If you havent heard the city of Christchurch has been hit with another massive earthquake and this one has been more devasting. The first quake in September was bigger on the ricter scalel, but it was deeper in the earth. The quake this past week was only 5km below the surface, meaning more destruction and carnage. The quake happened mid day meaning people were out for lunch, at their office, on the bus – pretty much just right in the danger zone. There are photos of buses crushed, the cathedral in the city center lost its tower trapping people inside the building.
At the moment they have roughly accounted 100 dead and another 200-300 are missing. The CTV building collapsed with over 120 people. It has been awful. Now I am not in Christchurch, but I can tell ya that everyone in NZ is mourning for the city. This past year the city has already been through so much and now it got another ‘kick to the nuts’ while it was already down. There are stories of people having limbs amputated so they could escape the rubble of buildings. There are photos families learning that they will never see there mother again. It is truly sad and unimaginable. This is the largest natural disaster that has ever occured in New Zealand.
I was in Christchurch just days priror to the quae. I had dinner with 2 engineers that fly down weekly to work. The city was trying to rebuild. Now who knows what the next step is. There are still after shocks occuring. There is this one weather pychic that has succuessfuly predicted the last 2 quakes and is predicting that a larger quake will occur in March. Good lord I hope he is wrong.
Air New Zealand is flying who ever wants to leave out for $50. Support is pouring in from around the world – which is an amazing thing to see. If you wish to help the people of Christchurch please donate to the NZ RedCross. People from around the country are opening their doors and offering their spare rooms to strangers. People are sending Gum boots down for those who dont have any.
If you wish to see what the quake has done to this beautiful city please visit http://www.3news.co.nz/National/ChristchurchEarthquake/PhotosBeforeandAfter/tabid/1495/Default.aspx It allows you to scroll across the photo – before and after. If you wish to learn more about this awful event visit http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
I have only been in New Zealand for 10 months, but one thing I can tell you is that they are resilient people. They dont tread on the past or get down in a direr situation. They just pick themselves up and carry on with life and get on with whatever they have to do!
