Rocked in home at the heart of the quake

AFTER THE QUAKE: Annette and Graham Stewart, with their toppled chimney.

Annette Stewart describes being hit at the epicentre of the quake

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The couple who live at the epicentre of Canterbury's destructive earthquake were thrown from their bed, then tossed around like they were in a washing machine.

"I was thrown on top of my husband and I just grabbed him," said Annette Stewart, speaking from her home 10km south-east of Darfield on the Canterbury plains.

"And then we were both thrown to the floor ... it was like being in a big washing machine."

The massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Canterbury at 4.35am this morning, 33km underground.

It has flattened  buildings, seriously injured residents and caused widespread damage.

Mrs Stewart said as soon as she woke, she knew the earthquake was the biggest she'd ever felt - but she never suspected her house was at its epicentre.

"I'd never felt anything like that before, anything like that, but it's blown me away more than anything that we were in the middle.

"We never thought a quake would hit on the Canterbury plains."

Mrs Stewart and her husband Graham, who farm sheep in Darfield, said the noise was so loud they initially thought someone was smashing up their house.

"We thought it was an intruder, we thought we were being pulled out of bed," Mrs Stewart said.

"But then the roar was so loud, the roar of the earthquake and the noise of the chimneys coming down. It was like a freight train coming through the house, probably worse."

"We eventually reached the doorway, it must have gone on for more than a minute before the shaking began to subside."

Mrs Stewart said she and her husband were in shock following the quake.

"It was such a cold morning, a frost, and we were cold and shaking. My heart is getting better now, we've just had some food."

Council staff had since been to check up on the couple and others in the area, and confirmed they were at the epicentre of the earthquake.

- © Fairfax NZ News