I guess I should update...
The earthquakes have prompted me to update my journal ...a rare thing indeed.
At 4.35am on Saturday 4th September, Christchurch was hit by a 7.1 earthquake followed by many aftershocks that are still going (many between 4.0 and 5.0 magnitude. It was located about 30k west of Christchurch and 10k deep.
There have been no fatalities (well, except for someone who had a heart attack and a lemur that drowned) and only a couple of serious injuries.
As a comparison, the recent quake in Haiti was a 7.0 at a similar distance from urban centre and also at a shallow depth resulted in an estimated 230,000 fatalities and 300,000 injuries.
So, when the 7.1 quake hit on Saturday morning, I was still at the 48. We had just gone to sleep when the room started shaking. The initial thought was that the drunken fools in the lounge were being ...drunken fools. Quickly realised it was an earthquake, freaked out a bit. Then Spanish dragged me to the doorway between his room and the lounge (still full of drunk people)... naked. Naked!!. So I quickly grabbed a robe to wrap around us. Priorities huh?
It was kind of nice to have so many people still at the party. There were a handful of drunken annoying fucktards but the majority of people were pretty cool. There was much milling around and checking on everyone. I'm extremely glad I wasn't alone. When the second big one hit, I freaked and burst into tears but I think that's pretty justified.
Fortunately, there were port-a-loos already at the party so that was quite convienent. With no power, things were pretty damn intense. However, a fire was lit and we all huddled around. It's amazing how much a fire and some small amount of light can be so comforting.
Unlike a lot of places in Christchurch, we didn't lose water at any stage and the power came back on at about 11.30am.
My house and Spanish's house both survived pretty well. The pool at Spanish's place was destroyed and half the water ended up in the lounge and the chimneys at mine had to be taken down. It looks like some parts of my place have sunk a bit.
We were very fortunate because a lot of places in Christchurch are screwed.
The CBD suffered massive damage as did some suburbs.
My work was fine except for smashed glass and I'm not sure about my college. It looked fine from the pictures but its hard to tell.
There was a big aftershock on Wednesday that meant my work was evacuated as the building needs to be re-checked.
University isn't going back until the 20th and my college is only going back on the 15th. Sounds like the Uni library is out of action until the end of semester.
Spanish and I have escaped from the city and are now in Auckland. But it sounds like there will continue to be aftershocks for weeks so this is only a small respite. But at least we've been able to sleep.
Here are some photos of the damage
Interestingly, all the place settings on the restaurant were still all nicely set up.
Twisted bridge
And along the fault line.
At 4.35am on Saturday 4th September, Christchurch was hit by a 7.1 earthquake followed by many aftershocks that are still going (many between 4.0 and 5.0 magnitude. It was located about 30k west of Christchurch and 10k deep.
There have been no fatalities (well, except for someone who had a heart attack and a lemur that drowned) and only a couple of serious injuries.
As a comparison, the recent quake in Haiti was a 7.0 at a similar distance from urban centre and also at a shallow depth resulted in an estimated 230,000 fatalities and 300,000 injuries.
So, when the 7.1 quake hit on Saturday morning, I was still at the 48. We had just gone to sleep when the room started shaking. The initial thought was that the drunken fools in the lounge were being ...drunken fools. Quickly realised it was an earthquake, freaked out a bit. Then Spanish dragged me to the doorway between his room and the lounge (still full of drunk people)... naked. Naked!!. So I quickly grabbed a robe to wrap around us. Priorities huh?
It was kind of nice to have so many people still at the party. There were a handful of drunken annoying fucktards but the majority of people were pretty cool. There was much milling around and checking on everyone. I'm extremely glad I wasn't alone. When the second big one hit, I freaked and burst into tears but I think that's pretty justified.
Fortunately, there were port-a-loos already at the party so that was quite convienent. With no power, things were pretty damn intense. However, a fire was lit and we all huddled around. It's amazing how much a fire and some small amount of light can be so comforting.
Unlike a lot of places in Christchurch, we didn't lose water at any stage and the power came back on at about 11.30am.
My house and Spanish's house both survived pretty well. The pool at Spanish's place was destroyed and half the water ended up in the lounge and the chimneys at mine had to be taken down. It looks like some parts of my place have sunk a bit.
We were very fortunate because a lot of places in Christchurch are screwed.
The CBD suffered massive damage as did some suburbs.
My work was fine except for smashed glass and I'm not sure about my college. It looked fine from the pictures but its hard to tell.
There was a big aftershock on Wednesday that meant my work was evacuated as the building needs to be re-checked.
University isn't going back until the 20th and my college is only going back on the 15th. Sounds like the Uni library is out of action until the end of semester.
Spanish and I have escaped from the city and are now in Auckland. But it sounds like there will continue to be aftershocks for weeks so this is only a small respite. But at least we've been able to sleep.
Here are some photos of the damage
Interestingly, all the place settings on the restaurant were still all nicely set up.
Twisted bridge
And along the fault line.