Life in Christchurch

As time rolls on, and it is now one month exactly after the earthquake which shook Christchurch to its knees, metaphorically and literally!

How does the recovery progress? Slowly. In every city there is the main central business district, the business hub of the city, along with shops, cafes, and restaurants of every description. Well, ours is now a disaster zone, yet even within that zone stand buildings that are perfectly fine, but cannot open for business because of all that is around them.

The work progressed in stages, first, the desperate search to find survivors, then the search to recover bodies, on to demolishing highly unstable and dangerous buildings. Amidst all that the desperate work to get electricity working again, water flowing, and sewerage systems working – all of which were seriously damaged in the earthquake.

What we face now is the possibility of more buildings that will need to be demolished, others that are repairable, and yet others that are at risk because of the neighbouring buildings. We have streets where the front/facades of the buildings/shops crumbled onto the footpath and road. We have hills where one house may collapse onto the one below, which may in turn collapse onto the one below.

Our CBD is littered with mounds of rubble, and severely damaged buildings.

Some of our suburbs look like a Salvador Dali painting, with not a single building completely upright or undamaged.

Some of our suburbs look like the beach came to town.

Many roads stretched and pulled apart.

As a fairly good guess, I would have to say that there is not a single street in Christchurch that is a level as it used to be. You drive not just watching traffic but watching to see the state of the road ahead of you.

The physical recovery of our city is going to be a very long term recovery. What is unrepairable needs to be demolished. What is repairable needs to be repaired. Collapsed buildings, demolished buildings, piles of rubble, all need to be cleared away. But there are only so many people, and there are only so many hours in a day…and it is going to take a long time…a long long time.

The questions we ask are:

Will there be anything left in the CBD at all?

Will the damaged suburbs be complete wastelands?

We ask these questions of ourselves, inwardly, because no one can answer. We don’t know how long anything will take. We still have suburbs with no working sewerage systems, and no running water.

And so we do the only thing we can do, we keep breathing, and we keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Life here is not the same as it was, we think differently, we are ready to flee in a single moment, and we live at a very heightened level. But, the wonderful thing has been the spirit of humanity, that wonderful community spirit that has risen amongst us. Let that continue.

We are in this together. And we will continue to support each other to the best of our ability in whatever ways we can. We all have strengths, we all have something to share, we all have skills to offer.

In the most painful of days, a simple smile can be the light that lifts the world.

There are words that have come to mean a lot over the last month in Christchurch, and they are:

RISE UP CHRISTCHURCH

and

KIA KAHA  (be strong)

To all of my fellow Cantabrians…Kia Kaha

Arohanui

Robyn

The Japanese disaster

How does one even begin to fathom the crisis in Japan? It’s almost beyond comprehension.

Here, in Christchurch, NZ, faced an earthquake and the destruction that it unleashed on us, and perhaps as many as 200 people have died. It was devastating, and left our central business district in ruins, likely closed until Christmas time. It left businesses in the CBD scrambling to try to find office space, houses, anywhere that they could work from. It left people’s homes damaged or destroyed. It cut off power, water, sewerage systems. Liquifaction wreaked havoc across the city. Roads and bridges buckled – I would say there is no street in ChCh that is as level as it once was. Schools have been damaged and some well beyond hope of repair, and we now have other schools doubling up and running morning school for one school and afternoon school for another school. Our historic Arts Centre (the original university of Christchurch) has had all but one building red stickered (too dangerous to enter!), and will cost over $100,000 to repair (it will be repaired because it is an important part of our city). Our iconic Cathedral in the Square is badly damaged. The list goes on…

But we did not face a tsunami. We did not have the horrific power of a massive wave wash our city away. We did not witness cars and shipping containers being swirled around in the water as if they were children’s toys. We did not come back to witness massive piles of splinter wood where houses used to be, ships on top of buildings, cars on top of office blocks, bodies along the shore. And we did not face the potential of a nuclear disaster.

So, for all that we went through, we are so very lucky. And for all that the people of Japan have been through and are still going through…I cannot even comprehend how you must be feeling, but my love, my strength, my support, and my comfort flow out to you.

Whatever we face, there may be others who face worse. Whatever our pain, there may be others in more pain. Whatever our loss, there may be others who have lost more. And so we find the strength to go on, to keep placing one foot in front of the other, to keep taking one breath after another.

What Japan faced is horrific, and yet it is so far away we cannot really understand. What we have faced her in Christchurch … a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, 10 kilometres deep, 40 kilometres from the city centre, on 4^th Sep (4.35 a.m.), and five and a half months later, on the 22^nd Feb (10.51 a.m.), a devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake, five kilometres deep and five kilometres from the city centre … this for us is real, raw, and we felt it to our very bones. This we fully comprehend. The destruction, we felt it as it happened, and we knew out city was being shaken to its knees, again, and we knew that this time people were dying. Yet, again, I cannot even comprehend what the people of Japan are facing, as we seem such a small scale disaster compared to Japan.

So what can we all do? We  an be kind to one another. We can send out love, our strength, our comfort, and healing, our light, and our prayers to all of the people of Japan and to the land herself. It may not feel like much…but it is something.

Let’s all do something.

Christchurch earthquake

Where do I even begin to explain what it has been like to live through ANOTHER massive earthquake in Christchurch?

I will begin by telling you that we are now living with a high degree of anxiety and fear. After two massive earthquakes in 5 months, we can no longer expect to not get another massive one, so each time there is a shake, we go into flight mode, ready to run, leap under tables, escape buildings. Big aftershocks will cause further damage, as many buildings and houses are precarious.

When this big earthquake hit, on 22 February, most of us probably thought it was a small jolty aftershock when it began, but it got stronger and stronger and didn’t stop. In my own house, crystals were falling, lamps falling, stereo speakers fell over, pot plants fell, books, ornaments, and all sorts of stuff in the kitchen. Thankfully after the Sep 4^th quake we had already fastened bookshelves and wall units to the walls. I was home with my daughter and as soon as the shaking eased I ran (as best as one could in a still shaking house), grabbed her and we just held on to each other as a big aftershock belted through. We were freaked, but we were okay, and the house was still standing.

Now began the desperate task of trying to get in touch with my son who had been at university when it hit, my husband who works in the central business district, and my elderly father. Lines were overloaded, cell phones weren’t working, and desperation was setting in across the city. My sister reached me to tell me my son had gone straight round to our father’s flat and they were both okay. My husband ran home from the city centre! (It was much faster than trying to drive).

Our concrete block  fence was on a dangerous lean and firemen have since pushed it over. Our chimney is not looking too good, so they roped off the area where it is likely to fall.

As a city…we are devastated, and heart broken. There is a sense of disbelief. We are not back to the way things were after the Sep 4^th quake, we are in a much much worse situation. Over 100 people are declared dead, and over 200 still missing. We are looking at a death toll that may be near, or over, 300. Buildings can be replaced…people’s mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, husbands, and wives cannot. To see a picture of these people in their grief is utterly heartbreaking, and I feel it so deeply for them.

The central business district is a disaster zone. The 22 story Grand Chancellor Hotel is in a dangerous state and will fall in a serious aftershock, or have to be brought down. When it comes down it is going to domino its neighbours. Buildings have collapsed, facades have fallen down and crushed passersby. This quake hit just before 1 o’clock, when people were out for lunch.

Areas of Christchurch will have no water, power or sewerage system for possibly 2-3 weeks. The sewer system is seriously ‘munted’ right across the city. The water system is badly damaged and contaminated. The power company is working hard to get power on to everyone, and will be putting in power-poles  and overhead lines in some places as it is the quickest way to get power to people.

I cannot even express to you how unbelievable all of this feels. We see it on television and in movies. We don’t expect it to happen to us…we don’t expect it to happen to us twice.


(www.robynmspeed.com)

Time to dive back in to writing

I have not updated this blog for a while. Why? Because I can’t seem to relax enough to let the writing flow. So, I decided, maybe the flow is found within the process of the writing itself…

Aftershocks continue. Most of them are in the 3s (magnitude) and we barely feel them. Those in the 4s give us a bit of a jolt, and a bit of a reminder that the aftershocks may go on for months. The reminders serve to keep us slightly on edge.

Whilst our house is fine, we do have cracks along the cement between the concrete blocks. These move every time there is a decent sized aftershock. We decided yesterday that they are our very own tectonic plates! The thing is…these areas (3 of them plus a crack part way down each side of the chimney) are weaker areas, and if we get an aftershock in the 5s or higher…well, I am not sure what might happen. This is the worry that lays at the back of the mind. And it has been getting in the way when I try to write!

...

I was thinking about the way we live our lives, the focus we apply to our days. How often do we think too much about what we don’t have, and not enough (if at all) about what we do have?

I don’t dispute that we need money…just as I hope you will not dispute that we need to be happy in life. If I had to live in miserable worry about lack of money, every day of my life…I would rather not live at all. I do not believe that we are here, on Earth, for material gain. I believe we are here for spiritual gain. Yes, there is a necessity for money, and I respect that, but it is not the purpose of our life, it is a means.

If we don’t celebrate life … what’s the point?
If we don’t cherish the people in our life … what’s the point?
If we don’t laugh every day … what’s the point?

It’s time to examine the way we live in every hour of every day … and it’s time we made better choices!

500 buildings destroyed

Update: 500 buildings have been destroyed, 90 of them in the city center.

90 of power is back on in Christchurch.

Today (Sunday 5th Sept) we are expecting gale force winds, and likely rain and sleet. With many rooves damaged, chimneys down, there will be people who have wind blowing through their houses, and when the rain hits....there are going to be some serious problems for those people.

Overall, the people of Christchurch have been brilliant. Calm, supportive and coping well.

Throughout last night there were many small aftershocks. Knowing that we could be hit by an aftershock of magnitude 6, each aftershock woke me (as I am sure it did everyone else) and the heart rate increased and the adrenaline pumped. It was an unsettling night.

Cracks in paths can be minor or major, but are certainly common! There are many cracks like the one in the picture to the right, but fortunately not in our immediate block! The dog looks as bemused as the humans.

There is going to be some massive work ahead for road workers. It would be, I imagine, a task that must surely seem insurmountable. And it must be done quickly.

For the many houses with fallen chimneys and damaged rooves, they will be needing repairs as fast as they can get them. It is fortunate that we are out of winter, but it is un-fortunate that spring is an unpredictable season where we can get all four seasons in the one day.

My daughter's boyfriend's family suffered cracks through the exterior of their house as we did, and also in the interior, but nothing structural. It helps that he is a builder!! I would imagine he is going to be one of many people with a lot of work coming in. Roofies and builders are going to be the sought after people, the most worshipped men in town!!! Tradesmen are the unsung heroes of our workforce.

Chablias anyone?

The supermarkets, as you can imagine, would have had a massive mess to clean up.

Think of the supermarket you shop in, and consider how much would fall in an earthquake, imagine the mess, the smashed jars and bottles.

The picture to the left is the wine aisle...not a pretty sight.

However, it is, I am sure, an example of what has happened to every supermarket in Christchurch. There is simply no way, in an earthquake as violet as the one we experienced at 4.35 a.m. yesterday morning, that any shop could have got away unscathed.

Bottles of wine, jars of anything you can imagine, will all have fallen and smashed. What a massive clean up staff with have faced. But what seems to have happened everywhere is, the employees turned up, regardless of whether they were scheduled to work or not, and they just got down to work.

People have done what needed to be done, to help. They have been unselfish.

And, dear readers...I just had to share this with you. Because we have been asked to conserve water, some people have set up a new toilet.

Don't you just love Kiwi ingenuity!!

Apparently the dust from your vacuum cleaner can be good at soaking up the liquid...and you can throw in some garden soil to cover up the solids....yes, I know, not really something we want to talk about!

A 4.2 magnitude aftershock hit as I was writing this entry, and gave me a hell of a fright.

It is still so hard to believe all of this has happened. I am still amazed that our house is standing after the violence of the quake.

As one person said in a facebook entry: Christchurch really does rock and roll!!

Earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand

4.30 a.m., I think I had probably been asleep for all of an hour and half, when massive shaking woke me up. It felt like someone grabbed the house and started shaking and didn't stop!

I flipped straight into :
Q. WHAT?
A. Earthquake?
Q. How bad?
A. F****** BAD!!!!
Q. Potential damage to house?
A. Stuff probably falling off the outside. (Seriously, I did not see HOW the house could survive unscathed.)
Q. Family?
A. I shouted for everyone to "Get in a doorway!!" (forget getting under a dining table, we were upstairs, it was pitch black and the power was out) and I shouted it four times becuase daughter and boyfriend were downstairs.

I have never felt anything like it. Nor have I ever heard such a sound, the rumbling/roaring of the earthquake and the sounds of a house in distress.

Searching round the floor for my torch, which had rolled off the bedside drawers, I rushed downstairs to check on my daughter and her boyfriend, and had no sooner opened the door than an aftershock (of 5.2) hits! We were ALL freaked, and we were all scared!

We all moved to the kitchen, lit some candles, turned off the torches, to conserve battery power, and then managed to find a radio (the only radio we had was on my husband's Nokia cell phone!) that was when we heard it was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. (Later the 7.4 was downgraded to a 7.1.)

The Earthquake was centered just over 30 kilometers away and was about 10 kilometers deep. The area worst hit was probably the central business district.

Falling bricks damaged a number of cars. The Daily Bagel was one of a row of shops whose entire front facade just fell off!

A state of emergency has been declared in the central business district to give the civil defense people the power to keep people out of the city. Nosy people who just want to look at the damage, and get in the way, as well as risking their safety. There are a number of unstable buildings that could topple onto a passer-by.

We have areas of this kind of damage to the exterior.

We personally have some cracks in the exterior concrete blocks of the house, but nothing major. I was really amazed that we did not have stuff falling off the house...and just goes to show how sturdy this house is! Some neighbors had chimneys that fell down and smashed the roof. Two people were seriously injured, one by a falling chimney, and another by fall glass. Aside from those two, other injuries have been reasonably minor (as far as we know).

Fallen chimneys from the block we live on.

On a night with a filthy cold frost we were now without power. No way to heat the house or any water for a coffee/tea. Bundled up, we listened the news reports.

It was likely that we would not know when the power would come on until an announcement was made somewhere round 11 a.m. It was hopeful that we would have power back on by the end of the day. 

This is just round the block we live in.

There are cracks in many roads, and footpaths. Some deep enough to stand in (so I heard on the radio).

And what is the thing you really really want to do at a time like that? UPDATE YOUR BLOG!!! Post on facebook!!! But with no power we had no broadband router, hence no internet.

The power came on 7 hours later. Finally some heat and a cup of tea! As far as the water system goes, the Mayor has advised that the water is going to be turned off. I don't know if this is so they can repair, or investigate. I have filled bottles etc so that we have a supply to last us. Thank goodness I did the grocery shopping yesterday!

My sister and her family are fine. My Dad, thank goodness, was in hospital, where he has been for two weeks with an infection inside his knee. He said the quake scared the crap out of him and he thought it was the end of the world! Thank goodness he was in a place where he was safe and where they had power and heat. It was the first time I was glad he was in hospital!

It was one hell of a way to wake up...and at the back of your mind you are saying to yourself, silently, "This can't be happening.

The road is a foot lower than the bridge

Christchurch was very lucky. It could have been so much worse. And if this is the big earthquake that we have all been waiting for in this city...then we got off lightly.