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Matata had 1200 earthquakes last year but try suggesting to anyone that the jolts might make them want to leave.
"You're not going to move anyone away from here, even with the rock 'n' roll," Fiona Ihaia said.
The 54-year-old kiwifruit worker was born and bred in the
small Bay of Plenty town and, although she now lives in nearby Edgecumbe with her partner, she knows full well what it is like to inhabit Matata's shaky ground.
"Every quake you feel is threatening, but we have to live with that," she told the Weekend Herald.
Ms Ihaia still has family in the town and visits regularly.
Speaking at the local pub this week, she said her sister-in-law had to have counselling to deal with the quakes, which made her want to leave Matata and her husband.
Others also admit the continual shaking sets their nerves on edge.
"It does, but you can't do anything about it, so you have to go with the flow," said Paul McConnachie, Ms Ihaia's partner, who was also born and bred in the seaside town.
The 50-year-old said earthquakes were a fact of life for many in the Bay of Plenty, recalling a big one in Ohope, where he saw a brick wall contorting and "looking like a snake going through the long grass".
JT, who has lived in Matata for 26 years, differs from his friends in that the quakes do not scare him, and nor does he worry about the number of tremors.
"You don't sit and count any more," he said. "You only count the big ones."
While 1200 earthquakes were recorded in Matata last year, the town had similar numbers of quakes in the previous two years. Many locals pinpoint the flurry of seismic activity as beginning a few months before the disaster of May 2005, when devastating debris flows of trees, boulders and rain swept down from the hills and laid waste to much of the town.
Some days now, Matata gets several quakes, then has a break of several days before there are more.
Justine, 28, had only been in the town three months, but had already felt four big shakes, the first of which scared her badly.
"No one told me it was an earthquake town," she said.
GNS Science said the quakes were caused by spreading of the Earth's crust in the region, and residents told how they were preceded by a rumble like a milk tanker which made pheasants squawk.
So far, none of the quakes had caused major damage, although people reported houses on stilts wobbling and ornaments falling.
Chris Baker, who holidays regularly in Matata, said: "It just makes you feel more pissed when you walk."
While no one enjoyed the jolts, all those connected to the town agreed it was a wonderful place, and nothing short of a catastrophic earthquake would keep them away.
"You can't ask for anything more, with the beach views," said mother-of-two Tracey Parsons.
"It would take a lot to make us move."
