Date/time: 22 February 2011, 1730hrs Release No: 1

The Chair of the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group, Mayor John Forbes said that thoughts and prayers are going out to all those affected by the series of earthquakes in Christchurch.

An earthquake (an aftershock of the 4 September 2010 earthquake) of magnitude 6.3 struck today at 12:51 hours 10km south east of Christchurch. The earthquake was centred at a depth of 5km.

This has been followed by a number of aftershocks, the largest a magnitude 5.7 which was 6km deep and centred 10km east of Canterbury. There are areas of liquefaction in the central city, as well as telecommunications and power outages and reports of water in the streets.

Mayor Forbes said the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group has offered its staff to Canterbury to assist with the earthquake response and recovery effort.

“Our emergency management staff are putting together a consolidated list of support available from the Bay of Plenty to be sent to Christchurch if and when requested.”

“This will be sent to the National Crisis Management Centre who coordinate all offers of assistance from around the country,” Mayor Forbes said.

To keep up to date with developments go to the Ministry of Civil Defence Emergency Management website (wwwmcdem.govt.nz), Bay of Plenty CDEM website (www.bopcivildefence.govt.nz) and other news media.

ENDS

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