A magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the Japanese coast yesterday, causing widespread devastation and a death toll of at least 1000.
The quake, 8000 times stronger than the magnitude 6.3 quake which struck Christchurch on February 22, and subsequent tsunami have wreaked havoc in Japan.
Oil refineries erupted in flames, cars, bridges and entire villages were washed away and nuclear power plants are on emergency alert.
Jayne Nakata - Jayne Lark until she married a Japanese man - said the Fukushima Nuclear power plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, was about 50km from her home.
"If there was a large explosion we would be affected here," she said.
The plant's cooling system shut down following the quake and radiation levels have increased 1000 times their normal levels as a result.
Authorities had evacuated thousands of people living in a 3km radius of the plant but she feared she and her husband would still be in danger.
It would be difficult to leave the area as most of the region's highways were closed, Mrs Nakata said.
Japan had regular earthquakes but yesterday's quake was incomparable, the former Te Anau woman said.
"As I was waiting with some other people for the shaking to stop, people around me were shouting 'It's just like New Zealand'.
"New Zealand has very much been in the minds of people here for the last few weeks since the Christchurch earthquake," she told NZPA in an email.
Mrs Nakata, 31, was driving out of a parking lot when the earthquake struck.
"The power poles were rocking and people around me were rushing out of the shopping centre screaming.
"Buildings were groaning, the road was going up and down in waves.
"At one point I got out of the car as I thought it would tip over from the shaking and had to hold on to the side mirror to stay upright."
After the shaking stopped, she managed to drive to her husband and they drove home, 20 minutes away, in convoy, braving the relentless aftershocks.
She was relieved to find her house undamaged and her dog safe: "We are very, very lucky."
Christchurch's quake had prompted her to get her emergency kit ready but she had no idea she would need it so soon.
Mrs Lark said all her friends and husband's family were accounted for apart from one friend, who lived in the tsunami-wrecked Ishinomaki city.
"Here in my city, I think most people are on edge because the aftershocks just keep coming.
"I am still working on adrenalin a bit and hoping that the worst is over but as I write this there has just been another big shake," she told NZPA.
Mrs Nakata, who is due to give birth in June, said she lived in a fairly new neighborhood and the houses were built to withstand earthquakes.
The New Zealand Embassy in Japan has estimated at least 6000 New Zealanders could be in Japan, with about 3500 registered with Japanese authorities as living in Japan and at least a further 3000 visiting the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 756 New Zealanders were registered with the ministry as travelling in Japan but not all travellers chose to register with the embassy.
