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Hundreds of kilometres may separate Hawke's Bay from quake-stricken Canterbury, but the earth's violence has brought the two regions closer together.
The Hawke's Bay region today pledged $250,000 towards the quake relief effort in a show of solidarity nearly 80 years after its own devastating earthquake.
A magnitude 7.8 quake flattened buildings in Hastings, Napier and Wairoa on February 3, 1931, killing 258 people and injuring thousands more.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said help from around the country had been indispensable after the 1931 quake - the most destructive natural disaster in New Zealand history.
"The type of devastation we've seen in Christchurch is similar, and we think it's appropriate that we do something in return," he told NZPA.
"It's an absolute miracle that nobody was killed in Christchurch because of the timing of the quake.
"If it had been at any other time there would have been horrible deaths I'd imagine, if people had been on the streets."
Yule said he had a lot of sympathy for the people Canterbury.
"Hawke's Bay went through it in 1931 ... this will be probably the biggest event in Canterbury's history for some considerable time."
Disasters of this scale pulled communities together and allowed for discussion and debate on the future of the region, Yule said.
"When a whole lot of buildings have to be demolished, as I understand is the case in Christchurch, you can actually make some decisions on what you want to replace them with."
The impact of the 1931 quake was still visible in Napier and Hastings today through the art deco and Spanish mission architecture which sprung up during the reconstruction effort.
"In Christchurch there will be similar decisions to be made in terms of historic buildings and how they'll be looked after, so big events like this, they do shape communities."
Cantabrians would learn from the disaster, as people in the Hawke's Bay had after the 1931 quake, Mr Yule said.
"The people of Hawke's Bay are very, very aware of earthquake risks - probably more so than the people of Canterbury had been before Saturday.
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