Kaikōura earthquake response

Just after midnight on 14 November 2016, most of central New Zealand woke following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck about 60km south west of the coastal town of Kaikōura in the South Island.

The 2016 earthquake generated the strongest ground acceleration (external link)  ever recorded in New Zealand and caused widespread damage throughout the South Island districts of Hurunui, Marlborough and Kaikōura, closing both State Highway 1 (SH1) and the Main North Line railway between Picton and Christchurch.

With close to a million cubic metres of rock and material falling onto the coastal transport corridor, Kaikōura and the surrounding rural communities were isolated - all roads and the rail network in and out of the area were damaged and closed by the slips.

This major event disrupted the lives of many: homes were damaged, businesses were closed, farms left with damaged land and no access to markets for their goods, and communities devastated by the loss of trade from passing traffic and tourists.

15 December 2017: One year, one month, one day on from an earthquake which changed the lives of so many people, it was an honour and a privilege to hand back to the local community and the traveling public their road, SH1, both north and south of Kaikōura. It was a day of mixed emotions, of reflection, of sadness, of optimism and of passion for achieving this milestone in such a short time.

We reflected a lot on what it’s taken to deliver the rebuilding and reconnecting of the railway, the harbour and the road networks following the Kaikōura earthquake. 

While the final push to open SH1 north of Kaikōura – a milestone achieved in December 2017 – was astounding, 2017 was in fact a full year of effort from so many people. More than 1700 people from across NZ and around the world joined together to repair and renew the coastal and inland transport networks. Making this animated video helped us revisit the extraordinary steps taken to reconnect communities.

This is ‘our story’.

We have had lots of people asking us about what SH1 will actually look like when open – we have all seen the devastation caused by the earthquake and have followed the incredible progress, but our curiosity knows no bounds. So … we created a flythrough of the corridor between Oaro in the South to Clarence in the North to virtually take you there! You will see where the road twists and winds through unsealed surfaces, between road-cone-lined edges, and where our stop/go teams will wave you through areas where traffic can only flow in one direction. While each day could offer a little something new, please make sure you plan your journey well ahead of time by visiting our Plan your journey page (www.nzta.govt.nz/p2c(external link)).