The Port of Wellington has been closed for a number of days following a destructive earthquake which rocked the South Island of New Zealand.

Chief Executive Derek Nind, Chief Executive of the Port, said: “We have sustained damage to buildings and the port and also some liquefaction and differential settlement in places, we understand this is inconvenient for customers and tenants and we’ll provide updates when we know more; our primary focus is safety.”

The earthquake was measured at 7.5, and has caused the deaths of two people and massive infrastructural damage across the country; the damage didn’t stop at the initial shockwave, aftershocks and extreme weather have followed, making recovery a slow process.

The New Zealand Herald reported that cargo and logs had been strewn across the port, and there are damages to terminals; shipping workers were forced the flee Kings Wharf after a massive crack in the ground began forming across the port.

An unidentified witness said: “It was just panic stations, water was coming up from the wharf, we had about five seconds to evacuate.”

extreme weather in the region which has followed the earthquake has caused other international ports to suffer damage also, as this footage of the Port of Brisbane shows many containers thrown around the terminal.