Brace for big one, council urged | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

The Masterton District Council is being urged to prepare for the "big one".

The council's call centre has fielded daily calls, almost entirely from women, urging the action after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Christchurch on Saturday and small quakes hit Wellington and Hawke's Bay this week.

The council's emergency management officer Paul Walker said he had given away about eight emergency kits and magazines advising how to plan an escape route in the event of disaster and the essentials people should stock up on. Yesterday a man living on the edge of town had offered his 25,000-litre water tank to the council in an emergency.

"It seems to be human nature that a lot of people want to assist and this gentlemen has called in and said this is what I have."

While the water wouldn't be enough for Masterton's 18,000 people, Mr Walker advised the man to join a neighbour support group, as those groups would be the "eyes and ears" of Civil Defence when an earthquake hit.