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7.4 earthquack today in Christchurch!


pj4jj

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The official quake is now 7.1, but in the scheme of things that really makes no difference.

 

There is quite a lot of damage - www.stuff.co.nz is the best website to get up to date information. As it happened at 4.35AM when most people were in bed, the injury rate has been very low and no deaths.

 

Many buildings are damaged, roads and bridges damaged, burst water mains and power outages. Mostly older buildings are the ones affected, with brick facardes following, and in some cases cars have been crushed.

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow Kiwis. Every family in NZ will have a link to someone who has been directly affected in Christchurch.

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There's been extensive damage but, thankfully, no deaths and very few injuiries which is a miracle given the severity of the 'quake. The authorities seem to be getting mobilised very quickly and obviously have emergency plans in place for this kind of event. It's a timely reminder that NZ has a lot of seismic activity (think about all those hot springs and volcanoes) and isn't affectionately known as "the Shaky Isles" for nothing.

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I heard this evening (London time) that all the people I know in Christchurch are fine, which is a (personal) relief. NZ is lucky that there have been so few casualties. But clearly it's going to take some time to get everything back to something approaching normal. I'm going to be on the North Island next weekend so will no doubt get to hear much more at first hand.

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Hi - I live in Christchurch and have to say this has been the most terrifying 24 hours of my life. I live alone so was petrified through the first quake and I am still very on edge with every aftershock (and every noise or creak!). The quake was bad enough but losing power just made it so scary. I also live right by the beach so I went with neighbours to find higher ground until we had the all clear and knew the quake was centered inland not out at sea. My home is fine (thankfully) but nearby there is very extensive damage to homes, streets and buildings in the city centre. We are blessed that the injuries were minimal and so far no deaths - I believe the time of day played a big part in that. Many people I know have severe damage to their homes - some of them are a write off!

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Hi - I live in Christchurch and have to say this has been the most terrifying 24 hours of my life. I live alone so was petrified through the first quake and I am still very on edge with every aftershock (and every noise or creak!). The quake was bad enough but losing power just made it so scary. I also live right by the beach so I went with neighbours to find higher ground until we had the all clear and knew the quake was centered inland not out at sea. My home is fine (thankfully) but nearby there is very extensive damage to homes, streets and buildings in the city centre. We are blessed that the injuries were minimal and so far no deaths - I believe the time of day played a big part in that. Many people I know have severe damage to their homes - some of them are a write off!

 

The whole experience would have been awful.

 

You can always rebuild a house, but never replace a life. It is amazing that nobody was killed.

 

How did the tunnel stand upto the earthquake, that goes to Lyttleton?

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Hi - I live in Christchurch and have to say this has been the most terrifying 24 hours of my life. I live alone so was petrified through the first quake and I am still very on edge with every aftershock (and every noise or creak!). The quake was bad enough but losing power just made it so scary. I also live right by the beach so I went with neighbours to find higher ground until we had the all clear and knew the quake was centered inland not out at sea. My home is fine (thankfully) but nearby there is very extensive damage to homes, streets and buildings in the city centre. We are blessed that the injuries were minimal and so far no deaths - I believe the time of day played a big part in that. Many people I know have severe damage to their homes - some of them are a write off!

 

Thanks for posting about the earthquake. I'm glad your home is okay, and I would have been really scared too. I hope everything gets back to normal as soon as possible.

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Hi - I live in Christchurch and have to say this has been the most terrifying 24 hours of my life. I live alone so was petrified through the first quake and I am still very on edge with every aftershock (and every noise or creak!). The quake was bad enough but losing power just made it so scary. I also live right by the beach so I went with neighbours to find higher ground until we had the all clear and knew the quake was centered inland not out at sea. My home is fine (thankfully) but nearby there is very extensive damage to homes, streets and buildings in the city centre. We are blessed that the injuries were minimal and so far no deaths - I believe the time of day played a big part in that. Many people I know have severe damage to their homes - some of them are a write off!

 

Apparently the tunnel is fine. I work in early childhood and all schools and early childhood centres have been instructed to close until Wednesday so they can be checked for structural damage.

 

 

Thank you so very much for your on the spot reports.

You have sure been through a huge ordeal and all our thoughts are with you.

I too was wondering about the tunnel and its good to know its OK.

Also heard varied reports about the port, but see from the web cams thats ships are back there again, but wondering what will happen to the cruise ship visits in the coming season.

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Thank you so very much for your on the spot reports.

You have sure been through a huge ordeal and all our thoughts are with you.

I too was wondering about the tunnel and its good to know its OK.

Also heard varied reports about the port, but see from the web cams thats ships are back there again, but wondering what will happen to the cruise ship visits in the coming season.

 

Lets hope that the cruise ships can visit, the city really needs the income that these cruise ships bring.

 

I was only talking to my DH that New Zealand will probably have a big tourism campaign once Christchurch is tidied up, they need the tourists once things are okay.

 

The damage also to the train track is also bad from what we have seen.

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Apparently the tunnel is fine. I work in early childhood and all schools and early childhood centres have been instructed to close until Wednesday so they can be checked for structural damage.

 

That is good that the tunnel is fine. It makes sense for the schools etc to be closed. There is only so many buildings that they can check initially. The children will no doubt be traumitized by this event.

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Lets hope that the cruise ships can visit, the city really needs the income that these cruise ships bring.

I was only talking to my DH that New Zealand will probably have a big tourism campaign once Christchurch is tidied up, they need the tourists once things are okay.The damage also to the train track is also bad from what we have seen.

 

Could not agree more.

But its not just the cruise ships.

Christchurch is THE main International Airport for tourists to the South Island, and it is the height of the skiing season.

They certainly need the income from tourists, but also require the infrastructure to support that income.

Looks like over 500 buildings will have to be demolished.

Thats going to take a lot of time, but will also inject a boost to the economy as all those jobs are created in the rebuild.

 

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Hi - I live in Christchurch and have to say this has been the most terrifying 24 hours of my life. I live alone so was petrified through the first quake and I am still very on edge with every aftershock (and every noise or creak!). The quake was bad enough but losing power just made it so scary. I also live right by the beach so I went with neighbours to find higher ground until we had the all clear and knew the quake was centered inland not out at sea. My home is fine (thankfully) but nearby there is very extensive damage to homes, streets and buildings in the city centre. We are blessed that the injuries were minimal and so far no deaths - I believe the time of day played a big part in that. Many people I know have severe damage to their homes - some of them are a write off!

 

Thanks for letting us know. We are happy to know that there were few injuries and no deaths. Buildings can be repaired.

I lived in Los Angeles for most of my life and have experienced many earthquakes. They are very frightening as are most aftershocks. So, I have a good idea of how you felt. Hopefully, the aftershocks will lessen and then stop soon. Glad you had no damage.

 

chloe kitty

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Hi - I live in Christchurch and have to say this has been the most terrifying 24 hours of my life. I live alone so was petrified through the first quake and I am still very on edge with every aftershock (and every noise or creak!). The quake was bad enough but losing power just made it so scary. I also live right by the beach so I went with neighbours to find higher ground until we had the all clear and knew the quake was centered inland not out at sea. My home is fine (thankfully) but nearby there is very extensive damage to homes, streets and buildings in the city centre. We are blessed that the injuries were minimal and so far no deaths - I believe the time of day played a big part in that. Many people I know have severe damage to their homes - some of them are a write off!

 

To all our Trans Tasman "Mates", we are thinking of you all, and send our special wishes.

 

As stated above, houses can be rebuilt, lives can never be replaced!

 

Take care and stay positive.

 

Nicki

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Could not agree more.

But its not just the cruise ships.

Christchurch is THE main International Airport for tourists to the South Island, and it is the height of the skiing season.

They certainly need the income from tourists, but also require the infrastructure to support that income.

Looks like over 500 buildings will have to be demolished.

Thats going to take a lot of time, but will also inject a boost to the economy as all those jobs are created in the rebuild.

 

 

We remember seeing a lot of motels out towards the airport, I wonder how these places got on, as it is getting towards the epi centre at Darfield?

 

Watching the story on the news tonight of the young Australian man killed in the plane crash at Fox Glacier, and compounding the grief of the family, they are having trouble getting his body back to Australia because of the earthquake.

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Thanks for your messages everyone. It's so wonderful to see the best side of human nature when something like this happens. I finally managed to succumb to about 3 hours sleep last night after being awake for more than 40 hours. It wasn't helped by the gale force winds that came through last night. It's very surreal to think we are now those people that we see on tv surviving a major disaster. The main thing is that we DID survive though. The emotional toll on me has been big and I imagine it's the same for all other residents of Christchurch but we will help each other through it until we restore our beautiful city once again.

 

There should be no problems at all for cruise ships etc. once the season begins. Also our airport is back open but they are just asking people not to come here for non essential travel - at least this week.

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Many folk who have cruised to New Zealand and Christchurch on various lines will have undertaken the Shore Excursion to the Canterbury Plains & Tranz Alpine train .

 

In that tour one visits the most delightful NZ Sheep station with very historic shearing and vintage machinery, wine cellar and engineering museum . The property had also a beautiful homestead still occupied by its owners.

 

The house as photographed in January 2009 (below) is show in todays Australian papers as very severely damaged .

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Hi - I live in Christchurch and have to say this has been the most terrifying 24 hours of my life. I live alone so was petrified through the first quake and I am still very on edge with every aftershock (and every noise or creak!). The quake was bad enough but losing power just made it so scary. I also live right by the beach so I went with neighbours to find higher ground until we had the all clear and knew the quake was centered inland not out at sea. My home is fine (thankfully) but nearby there is very extensive damage to homes, streets and buildings in the city centre. We are blessed that the injuries were minimal and so far no deaths - I believe the time of day played a big part in that. Many people I know have severe damage to their homes - some of them are a write off!

 

So sorry for what you have been through. Will keep you all in our prayers and hope you can all get things back to normal as soon as possible. Good luck to you :)

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