Bouquets to Civil Defence for their handling of the gravest tsunami threat to both New Zealand and the Pacific Basin region yet.

I have opined on this blog after the last two significant tsunami warnings that Civil Defence was slow to react. Not this time though. After the tragic 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile late yesterday, the ministry swung into action to monitor the situation and issue regular updates.

At the time of writing this blog (1.30pm) it appears that New Zealand and the Pacific region have largely been spared the huge waves which were feared. However, it appears that the people of Chile, Easter Island and Juan Fernandez Island have borne the brunt of the earthquake and tsunami. To anybody who might be reading this blog in Chile, I extend my personal heartfelt condolences and thoughts to you all.

With this tragedy following quickly on the heels of the Haitian earthquake, the international community will have to continue to show compassion (mainly financial and in physical support terms) once again. I admit to not having donated to the Haitian appeal but now with Chile, I will donate to both. Besides, Christmas had seen me slip into a bit of a hole financially but now with work coming back on stream, I might be in a better position to show my support. I hope that you will too.

But back to our immediate threat and Civil Defence's handling of it. Today showed what our civil defence authorities can do when spurred by criticism. They have performed at the top of their game today and the coordination between them and other emergency services (particularly police, ambulance and fire) has been magnificent so far. The staff at GeoNet also deserve ongoing praise for their quality work in reporting on seismological threats to both New Zealand and our neighbours. It's my fervent hope that the National Government's spending axe doesn't fall on these organisations. We need them as they are as vital to us as the other emergency services are.

This quake should remind us of our vulnerabilities as well. I have yet to read the Otago  Magazine (Otago University's alumni magazine) and its article entitled 'Breaking point - New Zealand's next big quake'. In this article, the work of Otago University geophysicists and seismologists in helping to develop an international earthquake warning system was discussed. This article contained the team's findings that Fiordland will serve as the epicentre of this country's next big earthquake which is forecast to cause significant damage throughout most of the South Island. The June 2009 earthquake which occurred on the same faultline (which I and thousands of other southerners felt) was simply a portent of what is yet to come. 

On that note, I will have to go and look at my home civil defence kit once again. I got it some years ago but it needs an update. I suggest that if you haven't done so, do go and get one. In the meantime, we will hopefully rely on Civil Defence keeping up today's excellent performance. 

(NB: One more thing - if you're one of those idiots who went to a beach or rubber necked on a high coastal road today, shame on you! If the tsunami event was more significant than it has turned out to be, then I doubt that many of you would be alive to read this (or if you were an onlooker you could have blocked emergency traffic). After all, even Civil Defence doesn't have the power to prevent idiocy. Next time, just use some decent bloody common sense!)