Sonny Bill Williams has a rude awakening

Canterbury's star rugby signing Sonny Bill Williams was shaken from his bed on the third floor of a downtown apartment block when the earthquake struck.

He described it as "like being in a dream, or really bad turbulence".

"My apartment was just swaying," he said. "I thought the roof was going to fall in. I stayed in my bed, I was shocked, I just stayed in my bed, buzzing out in shock. All the windows were smashed, the TV and everything had fallen over."

Williams' older brother, Johnny, who lives with him, and a friend visiting from France came running into his bedroom.

"I just started laughing because my brother had run in just in his undies. He said `Come on, bro, we've got to go'. We had to go outside, but it was about minus five, so I was putting on my tracksuit and hoodie and my brother yelled `Hurry up, let's go', and I was saying, `We'll get frostbite'.

"We started going downstairs, on each level we were knocking on everyone's doors to see if everyone was all good. Most people started going downstairs and then the aftershocks began. We were all downstairs for a couple of hours and then I had just gone back to bed when another aftershock happened.

"Thank God we got out of it safe and no one in Christchurch has been killed, you've got to thank God for that. It's mother nature, you can't mess with that."

- © Fairfax NZ News