WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Residents and emergency workers in a "lucky" New Zealand city began cleaning up Friday after a powerful earthquake wrecked buildings, burst water and gas pipes and ruined Christmas gifts, but caused only minor injuries.
Sixteen people were injured in the quake in the port city of Gisborne, 30 miles from its epicenter, said Gisborne District Council information manager Vance Walker.
The GNS Science geological agency put the temblor's magnitude at 6.8, while the U.S. Geological Survey measured it at 6.6. The quake caused some residents to flee for higher ground amid tsunami fears, but no wave was generated.
"We think we're fairly lucky," Walker said.
Still, three historic buildings in Gisborne collapsed and the central business district was cordoned off while engineers inspected damage done to other structures.
Early estimates indicated that that the quake, which brought down power lines and cut a hole in a major thoroughfare in the city, caused $23 million in damages, Earthquake Commission insurance manager Lance Dixon said.
Dennis Munro, a farmer near Wairoa, a town about 20 miles south of Gisborne, said he had extensive damage to his house, including a toppled chimney, cracks in the walls and a collapsed kitchen ceiling.
The house was a "real mess," with Christmas gifts destroyed, he said.
The quake, centered in the Hikurangi undersea trench off North Island, hit at 8:55 p.m. local time, 25 miles below the surface, the GNS Science agency reported.
Quake damage was reported from towns up to 125 miles north and south of Gisborne.
Seismologist Warwick Smith said the city had been "sideswiped" by the temblor and was lucky to escape with only moderate damage.
Another seismologist, Hamish Campbell, said the quake was caused when the Australian tectonic plate pushed down on the Pacific tectonic plate, which "actually snapped ... off the coast of Gisborne at depth."
Gisborne restaurant owner Tony Taylor said rain that forced diners to eat inside probably saved their lives, after a chunk of brick and concrete crashed onto an outside table.
"It was a godsend that it was raining," he said. "Otherwise those guys would be dead."
Resident Stephanie Butler said her two-story sewing shop in Gisborne was destroyed when a building toppled onto it. "One side is completely missing," she told National Radio.
New Zealand sits above an area of the Earth's crust where two tectonic plates are colliding. It records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year -- but only about 150 of those are felt by residents and fewer than 10 do any damage.
