Some Kawerau locals are leaving town as shallow earthquakes continue to rock the area, the district’s mayor says.

More than 760 quakes were recorded by GNS between Saturday morning and 10am Monday. Many have been less than 5km deep.

Kawerau mayor Faylene Tunui described Saturday as “a rough day”.

“Saturday was a really long day and it wore a lot of people down,” Tunui said.

“People have just had a gutsfull. They’re talking about leaving.”

Mothers with small children, in particular, had already left the district to stay with friends and family.

“They’d had enough by the end of the morning.”

On Monday afternoon, there were two or three more shakes, in quick succession.

“While they might be short in duration, it’s just the fact that they’re still happening. That starts to wear fairly thin with people.”

Tunui said Saturday began for her around 3.30am when she was woken by a 3.4 magnitude quake.

She later visited those worst affected.

“I spent the bigger part of the weekend just going out into the residential areas, just having conversations.”

She said it was difficult to reassure people when there was no way of knowing when the next shake might come.

“People have said to me, ‘Faylene, when is this going to end?’ It’s very difficult to give people a sense of comfort when you really don’t know. If I knew how to turn it off, I would never have let it be switched on in the first place.

“I just tell them, ‘I’m not an engineer, I’m not a builder, I’m not a plumber, I’m not any of those things but I’m part of a larger network that can connect you up or direct you’.”

Kawerau Mayor Faylene Tunui stands in front of a barrier at the walkway in Monika Lanham Reserve. Photo / Troy Baker

She said there had been a range of different responses to the earthquakes, with some people well prepared and not too worried, many of the older generation were in the area during the 1987 earthquake.

“It’s different for different folks. There was a granny who was like, ‘oh Fay, until they hit [magnitude] five or six … this is child’s play, we lived through a 6.5′.

“She didn’t actually have any wall hangings on her wall since the 87 for that reason. She had the Blu-Tac under ornaments and whatever else. That’s historical knowledge.”

During the 1987 quake the risk of a chlorine leak from the paper mill had been the biggest concern for the town and people had been told to evacuate to higher ground.

Tunui said some of “the 87ers” had wanted to head for higher ground on Saturday, however, chlorine was no longer a hazard because that storage facility was no longer there.

Current advice was for people to stay in their homes as long as they were safe.

Several slips and cracks had appeared around town and the council had put barriers up in places where there were concerns about safety. These include the Stoneham walk along the river edge and the walkway on Monika Lanham Reserve.

Tunui said some people had taken these barriers as an invitation to go over, through or around them, moving them out of the way in some cases.

“Please don’t go up there until we can get in and really get someone to assess them,” she said.

“Let’s put safety first and not go into those areas right at this time.”

Tunui said, on the whole, people had been reasonable about the fact that it was a natural event.

Damage to Putauaki being assessed

Although the earthquake swarm didn’t do enough damage to trigger a Civil Defence emergency, the council’s Civil Defence controller has been on the ground to support communications and respond.

Kawerau District Council communications manager Tania Humberstone said the council was also assisted and supported with communications by Bay of Plenty Emergency Management throughout the weekend and has been in constant communication with GNS Science Te Pū Ao.

Damage to council assets appears to have been restricted to walkways.

“Our duty supervisor, Sacha Matenga, was on the ground throughout the weekend checking council assets, buildings and infrastructure, particularly the water systems. Those assessments resulted in a walking track being closed up to Monika Lanham Reserve due to damage to steps leading up to the top.

“Repair work will be carried out this week to fix and seal the cracks on the steps at the lower level.

“In addition, external checks were completed of the council’s three water reservoirs.”

Humberstone said these reservoirs were due for a five-yearly structural review this year, which would be escalated following this swarm.

“The structural assessment entails divers going into the tanks to check the structural integrity. Council had planned in the Long-term Plan 2021-2031 to replace one of the reservoirs in the 2026/2027 year.”

An assessment still needs to be done on Mount Putauaki after what appears to be a crack appeared, possibly caused by a rolling boulder. Photo / Troy Baker

Māori Investments Limited (MIL), which manages access to Mount Putauaki, advised the council on Monday that it was closing the hīkoi steps off Waterhouse St, near their headquarters due to safety concerns.

Permits to access Tarawera Falls had also been temporarily suspended due to concerns with the road access and potential slips on the walkway.

The council had been communicating with MIL to organise access for GNS staff to Putauaki to assess any damage done to the mountain.

“We understand that what appears to be a crack, maybe the track of a large boulder that has rolled down and this will become clearer once further investigations are known.”

Most council facilities were closed over the weekend, including the library, which had books dislodged from the shelves, and the Maurie Kjar Pools as a safety precaution.

GNS has said there were no signs of geothermal or volcanic unrest in Kawerau.

Multiple slips recorded over weekend

Multiple slips were reported, including a slip on council land behind Tamarangi Drive, which has been checked and doesn’t pose a threat to people or property.

An existing slip in Massey St appears to have been unaffected by the quakes and is already on the council’s radar to repair.

Waka Kotahi Bay of Plenty System Manage Roger Brady said about 21 slips came down on SH30, between Lake Rotoma and Kawerau, over the weekend, and another 16 on SH34.

“While the weather was a factor, the main cause was the earthquakes which dislodged loose material above the highways. Waka Kotahi contractors responded immediately, putting Stop/Go traffic control in place to ensure public safety and begin clearance. There were also short periods where traffic was stopped in both directions to allow removal of material.”

He said the priority was placed on clearing the road with the largest traffic volume, which was SH30.

“The crews started at one end and worked their way through to the other.

“While the crews were able to clear both state highways to allow for two-way traffic on Saturday night, the clean-up continues. We expect to have this work completed by Friday evening.”

- Diane McCarthy at Local Democracy Reporting, Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air