More than 50,000 people from Otago dropped to the floor and sheltered under desks and tables as part of yesterday's national "ShakeOut" earthquake drill, with organisers hailing it as a success.
Nationwide, more than 1.3 million New Zealanders registered for the ShakeOut, which carried the message to drop to your knees, cover your head and neck, crawl under a sturdy table, and hold on to it during a tremor.
Almost 2000 schools and nearly as many businesses registered for the event.
Otago civil defence emergency management group public information manager Peter Taylor said more than 50,000 people in Otago took part, making it one of the biggest public education exercises in the region.
The event, which began at 9.26am, ran like clockwork at Dunedin's Balaclava School.
Teacher Trish Palmer said the drill was a valuable experience for pupils.
"I think that after Christchurch earthquake it has been very valuable. Children realise that it could happen," she said.
Pupil Angus Dagg (8) said they had been practising for the drill for about three weeks and it would help them keep safe in the event of a real earthquake.
"If there was a real earthquake like in Christchurch, I would be safe and not get crushed or break any bones," he said.
Mayor Dave Cull was among those taking part at the Dunedin City Council.
Council Civil Defence manager Neil Brown said people who participated in the drill might act more quickly in the event of a real earthquake.
After the drill, about 35 to 40 of Dunedin's key emergency response managers attended a workshop on how the city would respond to a major earthquake, Mr Brown said.
Central Otago emergency management officer Hamish Keith said the feedback he had received from the community was that "lots of people did drop, cover and hold".
More than 4200 people from Central Otago registered to take part in the exercise but the number was boosted by those who joined in on the day.
The Central Otago District Council activated its emergency operations centre and Contact Energy and Dunstan Hospital were among the organisations which took part and fed information back to the council, Mr Keith said.
A total of 7812 people in the Queenstown Lakes area registered.
This included 16 Arrow International subcontractors who congregated out in the open air rather than ducking for cover.
Arrow International construction manager Bruce Halligan, of Queenstown, said because of the nature of the site, seven weeks into a $3.1 million upgrade, "take cover and hold ... doesn't work".
"Guys ducking under scaffolding isn't a good idea."
In Oamaru, former Christchurch resident Leigh Baughan took part in the drill in her Oamaru hairdressing salon, Kut Loose.
She left Christchurch immediately after the February 2011 shake and said she was relieved not to be there now.
When she went back to visit family, she had difficulty sleeping, so tried to limit her stay to only one night.
Civil Defence Minister Chris Tremain said the ShakeOut earthquake drill, the first held, had been a success.
"I'd like to congratulate the citizens of this country for today demonstrating how to protect themselves and understanding the importance of being prepared when a major earthquake happens," he said. - Additional reporting APNZ
