Five days after the Earthquake

Five days after the earthquake and we have finally had a decent sleep. Perhaps it was simply exhaustion that led many of us to sleep through the minor aftershocks. I would be happy if I felt fully rested, but like many, I still feel exhausted.

As more pictures are shown in the news we see more and more of the damage.

A railway line not supposed to look like this! Up and down, left to right...and as dreadful as it is to look at, I cannot help but wonder what it would have looked like as it happened? The macabre side of human nature wants to ask for a replay on television.

Houses that had looked okay on Tuesday, with intact chimneys, were not looking as good after yesterday's 5.1 magnitude aftershock. (Some people are saying it was a completely different earthquake and not an aftershock, becuase it was a different fault, one actually near Diamond Harbour.) Whatever you want to call it, further damage happened. Our own chimney which had a small crack down the right side, now has a slightly bigger crack there and a new crack down the left side. Am I worried a bigger aftershock will topple the chimney? Yes, I am, but at the moment the cracks are only a few millimeters wide. We will just take things one day at a time...or perhaps more correctly would be to say 'one aftershock at a time'.

As I said, chimneys continue to be an issue for many houses. Builders, bricklayers and roofers are working as hard as they can to get these dangerous chimneys down as safely as possible.

But when the aftershock hits, and you really really want the chimney to topple the other way ... sometimes it just comes right through your house, leaving a massive hole in the roof. Fortunately this is not the norm.

It is time to appreciate our builders as the vital components to recovery that they are. Tradesmen are the men we most want to see walking up the driveway, tool belt swinging.