The children of Wanganui's Harriette Vine Kindergarten became "earthquake turtles" yesterday morning as they participated in Civil Defence's national earthquake drill.
Head teacher Brenda Kidd said earthquake drills were a regular part of the early childhood education centre's teaching - and a legislative requirement - but this was the first opportunity the children had had to participate in such a large-scale exercise.
Ms Kidd said some of the children had family members who experienced the Christchurch quakes, and all had learned more about earthquakes as a result. The 29 preschoolers sat with their four teachers as they waited for the radio to signal the exercise.
When it did, they got under their pint-sized tables, tucked up their legs and covered their heads and necks.
More than 1.3 million people registered to participate in the New Zealand ShakeOut, which took place at 9.26am yesterday.
Five minutes before the drill, a 2.8-magnitude earthquake struck 25km south of Wanganui.