Nearly 200 people took on the walk from 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗮 (just under 30km)!

Ka mau te wehi to everyone who participated, hopefully you feel a little more prepared (and the blisters have recovered)! A special shoutout to Wellington Free Ambulance for coming along to support us on the day.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗮

After a large earthquake in the Wellington region, 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. Many of the city’s 80,000 commuters would have no choice but to walk home.

The Long Walk Home event 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 after the 2013 Seddon earthquake which happened on a Friday afternoon.

In this earthquake, the airport and rail links closed temporarily for inspection, and bus replacements were not available for many hours. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆.

Some commuters decided to walk home, some stayed with friends/whānau in the city while a community response also kicked in where people were offering rides home for those who were stuck.

Wellington was lucky in this event as the road and rail links were not damaged.

However, in a larger earthquake, these transport links are likely to be damaged and unavailable 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿.

It highlighted the challenges of getting home after a large earthquake in the region. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲; 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 - a real world preparedness activity based on a bigger earthquake in the city to simulate and highlight the importance of commuters being prepared while making it a fun event at the same time.

This year's Long Walk Home route was to Porirua. Past events took us to the Hutt Valley.

Find out more about how you and your household can be prepared for emergencies here