On Monday morning, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit 30 km north-west of Levin, New Zealand. So far, experts have not reported injuries or structural damage.
According to reports, Jacinda Ardern New Zealand’s prime minister, has a reputation for keeping her cool in the face of a crisis. And this time was a moment for her to prove those statements due to when the earthquake hit the nation, she was being interviewed live on TV.
So she did it, she remained calm during the earthquake. “We’re just having a bit of an earthquake here,” Ardern told Ryan Bridge, a host for Newshub AM Show, live on air.
In the video, you can see the prime minister remained in place as the television camera jolted. She just took a look at the ceiling of the room she was standing in at New Zealand’s parliament in Wellington.
“Quite a decent shake here, but if you see things moving behind me, the Beehive moves more than most,” Ardern said, referring to the name given to the main parliament building, as the room rattled around her.
“We’re fine,” Ardern told Bridge, signalling she was ready to continue the interview as the quake rolled to a close. “I’m not under any hanging lights.”
Ardern later told reporters that the first thought to mind as the room began to shake was, “Are you serious?”
“Ring of Fire”
Just like most peope who live in New Zealand, the prime minister is accustomed to earthquakes due to the nation lies on the seismically active “Ring of Fire”, a 40,000km arc of volcanoes and ocean trenches girdling much of the Pacific Ocean.
In 2010 and 2011, two major quakes devastated the South Island city of Christchurch, killing 185 people. And in 2016, another near the town of Kaikoura caused damage throughout the top of the South Island and bottom of the North, with some major buildings in Wellington still closed for earthquake strengthening.
But Grant Robertson, the finance minister, said in a tweet that the quake was “not what we need right now.”
However, others took to social media to share they were expecting another plague. “I believe after earthquake and plague, the next one is frogs,” one Twitter user said.
Quite the shake in Wairarapa #eqnz I hope everyone else is OK. pic.twitter.com/amDDRnPlrn
— John Hart 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗 (@farmgeek) May 24, 2020
Source: The Guardian