Quake causes agricultural chemical spill

Photo / Thinkstock

Yesterday's 6.2 magnitude earthquake caused an agricultural chemical spill on a Palmerston North farm, resulting in one man being sent to hospital.

Central fire communications shift manager Mike Wanoa said they were called to the farm at Awapuni around 8pm last night after receiving reports of a strange odour coming from the garage.

"The garage was used to store fertiliser et cetera."

Safety concerns led to a specialist hazardous substance unit being called, Mr Wanoa said.

The agricultural chemicals had fallen over due to the earthquake.

A man complained about having sore eyes and difficulty breathing and was taken to hospital in an ambulance, Mr Wanoa said.