Eight years ago on this date - although, as I was living in New Zealand at the time, I was 13 hours ahead of the UK - I wrote the following post on my New Zealand Blog.
Just after 1400 hrs today I received a text from a friend who is visiting Christchurch to say that there had been another large earthquake in the City. It immediately became obvious that the quake was significantly more serious than the larger quake last September which was further away from Christchurch, much deeper and, most importantly, instead of being in the middle of the night when CBD (Central Business District = City Centre) was empty it happened just before 1pm when the buildings and streets were full. Communication with the City had been temporarily cut off when power and telecommunications lines were disrupted or destroyed. It took a short while for the television and radio networks (which were themselves damaged) to get up and running with their independent satellite equipment.
- Within 5 km of Lyttelton
- Within 5 km of Diamond Harbour
- 10 km south-east of Christchurch
Living in New Zealand one is constantly aware of earthquakes which, generally speaking, do little serious damage. If one lives in Napier the effect of the 1931 earthquake which destroyed the City with huge loss of life and very significant geological effect in the area one is even more aware of what can happen.
However I cannot explain the feelings of anxiety knowing that someone you know and care about is involved even when you know that they survived the initial quake unscathed. I cannot even begin to imagine how people with relatives and friends who are missing are feeling at this time. At the time I'm writing this 65 have been confirmed dead but it is expected that that number will rise.A State of Emergency has been declared.
The television and radio have been on the air with updating news since the quake. The friend who texted had no idea of the seriousness at the time because they had no power and therefore no TV or radio.
I never forget the day or the occasion because it was my friend's birthday.
I've written about earthquakes many times in many contexts. I've posted this again because I've not been able to get it out of my mind. It reminds me every time how fortunate are we who live in areas that, generally speaking, are not subject to major natural disasters. I just hope that politicians worldwide (who can do nothing about earthquakes) do something about global warming which will bring on natural disasters we cannot even imagine.
I've written about earthquakes many times in many contexts. I've posted this again because I've not been able to get it out of my mind. It reminds me every time how fortunate are we who live in areas that, generally speaking, are not subject to major natural disasters. I just hope that politicians worldwide (who can do nothing about earthquakes) do something about global warming which will bring on natural disasters we cannot even imagine.
