lol first thing I did was check my work servers!!! in wellington/hutt and it was big, doesn't help I was on second level.

Benoire: Felt nicely in Auckland, like rolling waves. Thoughts to those affected!

That also suggests to me it was larger than M6.6, though it is at night when you'll feel shaking that might not be noticed so much during the day.

I'm fine, I can't see the mobile network but our fixed network is largely fine. I can see normal (and bigger than normal) traffic volumes across the network. I do see a lot of sessions dropped from some BNGs in Wellington, Nelson, New Plymouth and Porirua. These largely align with where I have heard anecdotally of power cuts.

Sessions are starting to come back up in some areas.

If you're in the area (CHCH to Wellington), charge your cellphone, get your torches ready, text your mum.

Cheers - N

Am in Thorndon, Wellington ... longest quake I've felt here in decades ... and not the usual jolt type but long rolling ... felt like being on a boat!

Power flickered a little but all OK, no TV though ... wonder if antenna still on roof?

Well I am one of the few left feeding the Quake Catcher Network (University of Southern California) with a sensor on my foundations, and the graphs are pretty bl**dy impressive.

There used to be over 250 of them here in Christchurch.

I purchased my own - pretty good "subjective" look at how bad a quake really is / was.

Longest shaking I have ever recorded!

The emergency 111 line is down. Crazy situation! Please everyone, take heed of any civil defence warnings.

What's your gut feeling on GEonet M6.6 and USGS M7.4 estimates for that?

South Karori station which feeds USGS has pga at about 15% at 10 seconds, really long rolly stuff at quite a distance.

There apparently was a 2m tsunami in Kaikoura - seems a bit unlikely to me - but that's what they're saying.  Reports that roads to Hamner Springs and in that area are closed by slips.  I'd be surprised if the aftershock at M6.2 just North of Kaikoura hasn't done some damage to SH1.

Rest of the family has gone back to bed here.  Me no - I'll wait for the adrenaline levels to settle.

For posterity sake - here's the NZ drums.  GNS have scaled it - was clipping/unreadable before.  The first shock was large.  If the second large one at about 50 minutes there was a M6.2, then I'll eat my socks if if that first one was "only" 6.6.

Right - now USGS have scaled that...

Up - to M7.8 (that's about the size of the 1931 Napier quake if true)

You thinking about heading to higher ground?

Tsuanami warnings seem to be all over the place...kinds messy

DarthKermit:

 

The emergency 111 line is down. Crazy situation! Please everyone, take heed of any civil defence warnings.

 

I am looking out the window from the hills over S/E Chch, people are leaving Brighton - there's a steady flow of traffic.  As well as the 111 system being down, there actually is a tsunami warning in force, and apparently the tsunami sirens aren't working!

Do not take my advice here, but I do not think there is a significant Tsunami risk at the moment.  On the other hand, the possibility of a very large aftershock offshore could generate a tsunami, and if I lived on the beach, I'd probably be on my way to somewhere safer.

If the past record of GEONET is anything to go by:

Wrong size and location!

Will be changed "in silence" at some indeterminate time in the future!

It was 10 minutes of continual but non-violent shaking (By CHCH standards) here.

That to me means "bl**dy big" nearby!

USGS are more right than Geonet even for "our" quakes!

*disclaimer: I work at metservice*

Most scary quake I've ever been in 4 floors up, got network and application guys coming in to check on our data centre but we've lost a primary server.

Sounds like damage at home wasn't too bad

GNS/Geonet have finally revised it up - to M7.5