A giant rock the size of several cars threatening to fall on a popular North Canterbury road has been shattered in a powerful blast.
The risky rock was reduced to rubble with two backpacks of explosives blasting it off the cliff face on Esk Head Rd which leads to Lake Sumner.
The Hurunui District Council said there was no other way to remove the risky rock other than blowing it up.
A tremendous boom can be heard as the explosives ignite and the rock crashes over the road and down the hillside below.
A council spokeswoman said the rock became a problem during last November's quake and had further fractured in subsequent aftershocks.
