Produce growers in New Zealand's Canterbury region have been lucky to avoid serious damage to crops, plant and machinery after last Saturday's earthquake and subsequent powerful aftershocks, industry body Horticulture New Zealand said.
In its weekly newsletter published today (Wednesday), Horticulture NZ said the main concern was for glasshouses in the region, but most seem to have survived without significant loss of glass or other structural damage.
A local glasshouse tomato grower told Radio NZ that he had expected the worst when the magnitude 7.1 quake struck Canterbury, Christchurch, on Saturday, but his growing operation held up 'pretty well'. However, he added that the aftershocks had been very unnerving.
A 5.1-magnitude aftershock occurred around 8am this (Wednesday) morning local time, and was followed by another aftershock measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale, Radio NZ said.
New Zealand's Civil Defence has warned that further aftershocks are expected, and that one as powerful as as magnitude 6 can be expected.
The Wednesday aftershocks came as a state of emergency in Christchurch was extended by seven days.
Civil defence minister John Carter told Parliament today that the recovery would take months rather than weeks.
Repairs to the Christchurch watersupply have been set back by Wednesday morning's aftershocks, which also knocked out power briefly to thousands of homes, Radio NZ said.
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