The main earthquake occurred just after midnight on Monday 14 November and was felt as far away at Wellington on North Island. More than 100 aftershocks have followed the original earthquake, including one single quake with a magnitude of 6.3.
Wineries in Marlborough and North Canterbury are now cleaning up after the earthquakes, according to New Zealand Winegrowers. “We have emailed all our members in the affected areas and as far as we can tell all our people are safe, which is great news,” said Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers.
“Wineries are now very much in assessment and clean-up mode. There have been plenty of reports of broken bottles and damaged tanks, which is what you would expect in an earthquake of this size, but most wineries are reporting any damage as minor.”
Huia Vineyards in Raupara, Marlborough, posted an image on its Instagram page showing several steel tanks in its cellar which had been overturned or had their supports buckled by the force of the quake.
There were reports of damage at the Riverlands Industrial Estate, south of Blenheim, where tanks holding around 240,000 litres of wine were overturned, sending wine over the road, according to stuff.co.nz.
Meanwhile Yealands Wine Group operating manager Michael Wentworth reported that the company’s Seaview winery, near Seddon, was without power.