New Zealand military leaders say they have completed the evacuation of more than 700 tourists and residents from a small coastal town, two days after a powerful earthquake cut off train and vehicle access.

The magnitude 7.5 quake left two people dead, triggered a tsunami warning, and brought down rocks and mud that swept across highways.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the acting commander of New Zealand’s Joint Forces, said crews loaded 450 people and four dogs, along with about seven tonnes of luggage, from Kaikoura onto a navy ship.

The HMNZS Canterbury arrived in the port of Lyttleton just after midnight on Thursday, with the evacuees being bussed into Christchurch for the night. Good weather aided the operation.

Webb said it had evacuated another 340 people by helicopter since Tuesday.

Other locals are opting to stay put, awaiting the completion of a new inland road route. A single path for emergency and high priority vehicles only has been opened up, and a convoy of a water truck, loader and digger has made its way into Kaikoura in a precarious four hour journey.

Melbourne writer I.H.Laking has posted this video to Twitter showing how the sea bed in Kaikoura has moved – a warning on the language used at the end.

If you want to know how much the South Island's landscape has been affected by this week's #EQNZ quake, just check this out: pic.twitter.com/uz7BQMc8Q1

— Ian Laking (@IHLaking) November 16, 2016

Some tourists left by chartering their own helicopters or having air transport provided by their embassy.

“I think it’s gone really well,” Webb said. “We were fortunate to have a reasonable break in the weather today.”

Webb said warships from Australia, Canada and the US were due to arrive soon and would help restock the town with water, fuel and other supplies as well as transport needed equipment.

USS Sampson rushing to New Zealand to help affected by earthquake that struck #Kaikoura Nov. 14 | @DeptofDefense: https://t.co/pNoVyHthix pic.twitter.com/sv8F6TyHxi

— U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (@INDOPACOM) November 16, 2016

Australian honeymooners Kurt and Kailah Sapwell were among the tourists stuck in Kaikoura but they didn’t seem too bothered by their ordeal. They said they had all the essentials they needed: a place to stay, food and water.

“It’s been a shaky experience, all good though,” Kurt Sapwell said when Prime Minister John Key paid a visit to the town. His wife added that their honeymoon had been “memorable”.