No amount of planning could prepare the country for the reality of a large-scale earthquake, disaster officials have warned.
The South Island Alpine Fault Earthquake Response Forum was in Nelson this week as part of its awareness-raising road-show. The region was vulnerable to large quakes in both the South Island and the North Island, which was at risk from the Hikurangi subduction zone.
The Alpine Fault, which runs almost the length of the South Island, has ruptured about every 300 years for the last 24,000 years.
The last time was in 1717.
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