In Wellington, the earthquake caused minor damage to buildings, breaking some display windows and cracking plaster. Many central city office workers left work early, and with all
suburban train services cancelled for urgent track inspections, bus services overloaded and traffic gridlock occurred on major roads out of the city for a couple of hours. The City Council ordered the deconstruction of a 30-year-old lift shaft that had been damaged in a previous earthquake in July, after recently installed emergency seismic restraints failed. Several surrounding buildings in the fall zone were ordered to be evacuated. In the Wellington Region, 2,500 homes were left without power immediately after the earthquake. Most homes had power restored within an hour. Power was restored to 7,500 properties in Wellington City,
Kāpiti Coast and
Wainuiomata by 5pm. Phone lines were also overwhelmed.
State Highway 1 between Blenheim and
Kaikōura was closed for the night after the earthquake.
Wellington Airport temporarily closed to check for runway damage. In December 2013, the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) claimed that the insurance loss of this earthquake amounted to be
NZ$16.2 million (US$13.1 million).
Seddon The quake caused substantial damage to a number of residential homes in the Seddon area. Eight houses were evacuated by The Marlborough District Council and another 11 allowed only restricted access.
Rest of New Zealand The quake was felt as far north as
Auckland and far south as
Dunedin. Damage was reported in the
Kāpiti Coast,
Hutt Valley, Wellington,
Blenheim,
Ward and the rest of West Upper South Island. ==See also==