Kaikoura Quake

[cyphomandra]

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit North Canterbury (in the South Island) just after midnight this morning, and aftershocks are ongoing. It was felt up here by some (not me) and there's a lot of damage to land and property around Kaikoura, and to a lesser extent in Wellington, but there have only been two deaths, which after Christchurch is a massive

Comments

[calanthe_b]

I'm glad you're okay - thought of you when I heard the news.

[cyphomandra]

Thank you! Fortunately I am no longer in a quake-prone area - we are overdue for a volcanic eruption instead, and also at least this quake was at night; it's now apparent that things would have been much worse if it hit during a work day.

[calanthe_b]

That volcano had just better restrain itself.

I've seen some photos of the damage, and yes, it's very very lucky that the quake happened at night. And apparently that the resultant tsunami hit at low tide?

[cyphomandra]

Yes, which is just as well as the tsunami warning system was a mess - I have friends in the tsunami risk zone in Chch, and initially they were told to stay home, then about 20 minutes later told to evacuate. My sister and her family in Wgtn are also in a risk zone but don't have sirens, so also weren't sure what to do and ended up heading up the nearest hill to a friend's place around 2am.

It is good that this means things can be sorted out and done better next time, but it's hard not to think about how after the September 2010 quake everyone said the same things about Chch (lucky it was the middle of the night, no tsunami etc) and then five months later we got the Feb 22nd one, which was in the middle of the day and devastating.