Coastal communities in Central Hawke's Bay, from Kairakau to Whangaehu, were either evacuated or self-evacuated in the wake of the 7.5 earthquake that shook most of the country awake early this morning.
CHB District Council regulatory services manager Te Aroha Cook said that after monitoring the situation the Emergency Operations Centre was activated in the early hours and closed at 9.15 this morning.
"We evacuated all the coastal communities and there were some who self-evacuated as well."
Mayor Alex Walker congratulated those in coastal areas who self-evacuated following the quake.
"Civil Defence has been trying to drum into us that if a quake is 'long and strong then be gone' and it has obviously been working as people from Kairakau to Whangaehu, quickly moved from the beach front to seek higher ground."