Get involved in ShakeOut says Christchurch earthquake survivor
12 October 2015

A Nelson woman who was in Cathedral Square for the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake is encouraging people to get involved in this week's national earthquake drill.

There’s just three days to go until ShakeOut 2015, which will see over a million people around the country taking part in the drill to drop, cover and hold at 9.15amon Thursday 15 October.

Venus Sood was holidaying in Christchurch with her family, and taking photos of the Cathedral when the earthquake struck. She says the national drill is a good time to reflect on what you would do in the event of an earthquake.

“ShakeOut is a great cause. We all become complacent and think, ‘oh no this won’t happen to me’ but it can happen to anyone, at anytime, and we all need to really think about what we would do,” she says.

Venus is signed up as part of the Nelson New World team, and is one of over 24,000 participants across the Nelson Tasman region.

Nelson Tasman Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Manager, Roger Ball says the event is about raising awareness of natural disasters and encouraging people to be prepared in the event of a disaster.

He says it’s encouraging to see people like Venus signing up, sharing their stories and spreading the message.

“We have reached our target of 23,000 participants which is great. We couldn’t get the message out there without local people and businesses, and I’m glad to see so many in behind this event.

“We’re encouraging more, of course, as the more people we have involved, the wider the message spreads.”

To sign up head to shakeout.govt.nz

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