Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman John Cronin is back in Tauranga, bruised and battered, but wiser for the experience, after being in quake hit Christchurch yesterday.

He was in the city with a delegation of nine other members from the Bay of Plenty attending former BOP Regional Council chief executive Bill Bayfield's official welcome to Christchurch as Environment Canterbury's new CEO.

John is seated front right.

When the 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit at 2.20pm, he was still at Bill Bayfield's powhiri at a marae in the suburb of St Albans.

John was thrown to the ground and hit by a table that came crashing into him from the other side of the room.

Bruising is starting to emerge this morning on John's leg, but no one at the powhiri was seriously injured.

'A couple of our councillors were on the ground – just knocked over,” says John.

'There were people on the ground all over the place.”

Bill Bayfield and his wife were also knocked to the ground.

John says the experience has given him a new appreciation of what the people of Christchurch are going through.

'It was an experience that I will look back on and say ‘now I know what they're talking about'.

'I have a new appreciation of the trauma the people of Christchurch must be going through.

'Not only their personal safety trauma but the trauma of their economic position and not knowing if their houses will be rebuilt.”

When the Bay of Plenty delegation got outside, the ground was still rumbling, liquefaction was spilling out and a building across the road collapsed.

'It was like being on one of those bouncy castles.

'Seeing the liquefaction coming up was just surreal.”