After being jolted awake in the early hours of this morning, Waimarama residents made for higher ground after a tsunami warning was issued.
It was issued following the 7.5 magnitude quake near Hamner just after midnight, and was downgraded this morning to a beach and marine warning.
This morning, a number of those who left last night are yet to return, and Waimarama school is reopening.
Waimarama fire brigade fire chief Peter Morrell was one of those woken last night by a "big jolt".
After crews received the confirmation from emergency management of a tsunami warning, they began trawling the streets of the seaside town in their Stinger mobile alerting system.