Rescue operation underway in 'devastated' New Zealand town

A buckled road in Kaikoura, New Zealand.
(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)

About 1,000 tourists and hundreds of residents in Kaikoura, New Zealand, are stranded after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake early Monday caused mud and debris to block roads.

"From all directions, Kaikoura has essentially been isolated," Air Commodore Darryn Webb, acting commander of New Zealand's Joint Forces, told The Associated Press. "There's a real imperative to support the town because it can't support itself." Kaikoura is home to 2,000 people, and is a tourist destination for those wanting to whale watch or take in the scenery. The quake, centered 57 miles northeast of Christchurch, left two dead and triggered a small tsunami, and there are still strong aftershocks shaking the country.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.