Christchurch earthquake: PM feels agony of heartland

John Key's message for anxious Cantabrians is that they should reach out and get help. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Prime Minister John Key arrived in rural Canterbury accompanied by media representatives and officials, wearing gumboots and a Young Farmers Contest Swanndri, and offering a sympathetic ear.

He casually chatted with residents who had struggled through Saturday's earthquake, telling them "good on you" and "hang in there".

He patted anxious children on the back and cracked a few jokes to lighten the mood.

And the people, worn down by the effects of the quake and barrage of aftershocks, lapped up his attention.

Andrew Blackwell was surveying his family's 89-year-old department store - badly damaged in the 7.1-magnitude quake - when he met Mr Key in the badly hit township of Kaiapoi yesterday.

"It would be great to save it if they could," Mr Key commented as he surveyed the building.

"But what are the chances?" added Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee, in tow with the Prime Minister.

Mr Blackwell said he was determined to reopen the business in "some form". He told the Herald it was important to have the "man at the top" seeing first-hand the challenges faced by victims of the quake.

"They are huge. There is absolute carnage in the middle of town here and there are very serious issues that need addressing to get the town up and running again."

Further into Kaiapoi, with cracked streets covered in mud and silt, and collapsed houses that had sunk into the ground, Mr Key commented that it was incredible that anyone had survived.

Kathryn Hopkinson and daughter Jessie were outside their house which has "lots of cracks", when Mr Key's convoy arrived. The pair told of having just experienced a major aftershock while taking out the washing. But Mr Key said he did not feel it because he was being driven at the time.

At Michael and Kate Oakley's crop farm at Darfield, Mr Key got a look at the hundreds of tonnes of potatoes tipped from their crates in a packing shed, and heard the Oakley family's account of living through the quake.

"To try and physically get out of bed, as the bed is getting thrown across the room, [it's] quite frightening," Mr Oakley said.

He recounted how he took down five large mirrors to prevent them being damaged. Mr Key chimed in that "it could have been five years' bad luck".

Asked about the Prime Minister's visit, Mr Oakley said: "It's good to know that we are being thought of out there."

Mr Key signed off his rural tour with a message for anxious Cantabrians: "We all absolutely understand the trauma that they are going through. It's natural, it's widespread, it's a combination of sheer fear and exhaustion. And they shouldn't be embarrassed, ashamed or concerned that they feel that way.

"What they should do, though, is reach out and get help."