Quick thinking by Red Cross Response Team members helped 42 people at a Red Cross training camp at Berwick Lodge in Otago escape with their lives.

At 5:50am on 29 May, Response Team member and Dunedin Programme and Events Coordinator Richard Marlow heard strange noises and jolts outside the lodge.

"It felt like an earthquake and lasted about five seconds. There was a big rumble, rumble, rumble, and then a thud. What didn't sound like an earthquake was all the wood snapping."

Mr Marlow jumped on a bunk to look out a high window. Earth had piled up to the base of the window. His next thought: "We've got to get out of here."

Not a drill

He and a colleague, Nathan Findlay, banged on the doors of the camp to wake up their 40 colleagues.

"This is not a drill. Get out of bed. There's been a landslide."

Bleary eyed and wearing pyjamas, 29 new Response Team members, trainers and volunteers assembled in a common room at the other end of the lodge.

"Three minutes after the ‘quake' the building started to make obvious motions that it was going to move," said Mr Marlow, who then evacuated people to a car park below the lodge.

Hair-raiser

Minutes later, a large landslide shunted the lodge by seven metres, burying parts of it and coming to rest on four vehicles.

"It was a bit of a hair-raiser for some of them. But it could have been a tragedy. We're all here and totally unscathed, with not a single scratch," said Mr Marlow.

Since the close shave, the team has received a letter from police praising their quick thinking.

New Zealand Red Cross Dunedin Area Manager Karen Clements said the team's actions showed the value of the training. "I'm just glad everyone's safe and well," she said.  

Do you know what to do in a disaster? Find out about New Zealand Red Cross Emergency Management Teams here.

Find a first aid or emergency management course to suit you here.

How does the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies respond to disasters? Find out here.