Epicentre might not be in Auckland itself, but in another area. We had stuffed tossed onto the floor, cracked walls inside, a split door trim and even paint ripped off the walls from a big but very deep >7 earthquake centred in the Strait off Hawera. Friend in Paraparaumu had her bookcase turn over, was screwed down but not to the studs.  EQC had to take a break from Christchurch to come up and assess damage on the Kapiti Coast. And Hawera is a long way from us, but the waves moved east. Likewise Seddon, we were whacked hard by that. The G’s in the first big Seddon quake were higher here than they were in Wellington, despite them being much closer to the epicentre.

So, nobody expected devastating Earthquakes in Christchurch did they. Even experts can be proven wrong at times. Mother Nature will do what she will when she will.