Taupo earthquake: Emergency worker says be prepared

Despite the fact very few people in this region felt Tuesday's 6.5 magnitude earthquake, an emergency worker says it shouldn't be ignored, as the next one may not be a near miss.
The quake, centred 30km west of Taupo, struck at 3.36pm on Tuesday, at a focal depth of 150km, and was reportedly felt in Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Auckland and as far south as Stewart Island.
However, it pretty much went unfelt in nearby Taupo, and so far there have been no reports of any damage caused by the shake.
GNS Science Taupo volcanologist Brad Scott said the reason why it wouldn't have been felt was because the Taupo Volcanic Zone, which lies underneath the subducting Pacific Plate, would have soaked up the earthquake's energy. He said the earthquake's energy would have been directed up the plate boundary which meant it would have reached the surface along the North Island's East Coast, explaining why it was felt strongly in areas such as Napier and Gisborne.
Taupo emergency worker Phil Parker says even though the quake did no harm, it should be a wake-up call for locals and he was urging people to "once again" prepare themselves for a disaster.
"It's good that there have been no reports of damage but people still should not take [the earthquake] lightly," he said.
"People need to sit down and put a family plan together because next time a quake, a storm, or flooding could affect the town.
"It makes good sense to be prepared and we've been trying to say that for years but now's the time that people need to have a look around the country and see that it can happen anywhere.
"This is the area that we live in and we're prone to those sort of things."
He said the Taupo District Council had family plan pamphlets, which had tips about planning escape routes out of homes or planning meeting areas in an emergency.
Mr Parker said no one had popped into the council after Tuesday's quake to pick up a family plan brochure so far.
Many Taupo residents The Daily Post spoke to admitted they weren't fully prepared for a disaster but that the unfelt quake had got them thinking about preparation.
Marise Cox said she stored some canned food away after the Christchurch earthquakes but that Tuesday's earthquake had made her family realise they needed to be better prepared in case they were hit by a disaster.
"Because I didn't feel it, I initially took it for granted and that's bad because the next one could be a disaster.
"But after speaking to the family about it, we realised how it could affect our lives, so we're going to improve on being better prepared."
She said she intended to go to the council to pick up a family plan brochure.
Another Taupo resident, Ashleigh Stephens, also said she intended to get a family plan brochure.
"It's definitely a wake-up call. You hear about what happened in Christchurch but don't really do anything about it."