New Zealanders respond to the earthquakes of November 2016

 Just after midnight on November 14^th, last year, the world’s second most powerful quake of 2016 struck under the North Canterbury hills. 

It was one of the most complex earthquakes ever observed by seismologists. Huge slips slide off the sides of mountains, the coast rose by up to 6 metres, new reefs were exposed where there was only sea before, and thousands of people suddenly found themselves cut off from the rest the country.

Phil Pennington was in the first team of reporters sent by Radio New Zealand to the heart of the damage zone.  He and other members of the reporting team arrived in Kaikoura just hours after the disaster.  Their live reports became essential to the public trying to grasp the magnitude of what had occurred.  It was one of the most significant events to be covered in the history of New Zealand public broadcasting.

Surviving 7.8 is Pennington’s account of how the disaster unfolded.  It’s told through the words of Radio New Zealand reporters who covered the quake, transcribed interviews with dozens of people who endured it – from Kaikoura, North Canterbury, Marlborough and Wellington – plus those who sought out the radio station’s social media platforms for updates, news and support. 

Surviving 7.8 is a record of one of the most significant events in New Zealand history, and it is a summary of some of the most important and conclusive journalism produced for radio and the internet in New Zealand to date.

Sales from this book will support the New Zealand Red Cross Kaikoura Earthquake 2016 appeal.

SURVIVING 7.8: New Zealanders respond to the earthquakes of November 2016

By Phil Pennington, Radio New Zealand
Harper Collins

RRP $35  |  publication date 1 March 2016  |  also available as an ebook