Twin Earthquakes, Monday 13th June, Christchurch, New Zealand

Again.

It happened again.

For the third time.

Our city got belted by an earthquake/aftershocks. This first hit at 1 pm on 13^th June, and an hour and twenty minutes later we got belted again, even worse!

This is where they were centred…

Location:  10 km south-east of Christchurch

Focal depth:  11 km

Richter magnitude:  5.5 (later upgraded to a 5.7)

 

Location:  10 km south-east of Christchurch

Focal depth:  9 km

Richter magnitude:  6.0 (later up-graded to a 6.3)

Over the last nine months…

We got belted by a

·         7.1 in September (no one killed – it hit at 4.25 a.m.) 

·         6.3 in February (which killed 181 people - it hit at 12.51 p.m.) 

·         and now, in June, a 5.7  (1 p.m.) followed by a 6.3 (2.20 p.m.)

To put the positive first: the 5.7 sent many people scurrying out of buildings and kept them out when the 6.3 hit. The ‘pre-shock’ (as they are calling it) pretty much saved lives, so we were lucky.

Having been belted by the 5.7 we probably all thought we were okay, that the predicted big aftershock had just hit…

…And I wish people would stop predicting them, stop telling us, just shut up! We know aftershocks are going to belt through our city, we know this, we have been through it for the last 9 months, endlessly hit by aftershock after aftershock. We have done all we can do to prepare, we have food and water and everything we need if we lose power and water. The only thing left we can do to prepare is ‘pray!’ And I tell you I did a whole lot of praying after the 6.3 hit while I tried to find my children (19 and 21 years of age).

I can’t do anything more to prepare! And I know we will get aftershocks….so to all the gurus out there, please shut up! Just shut up! Leave me alone! Just let me believe (no matter how deluded) that it’s going to stop. Don’t friggen tell me there is a 30 % chance of a 6.9 within the next 10 months!...

Rant over … (feeling a teensy bit better now!)

The most frightening thing when the 6.3 hit, was this:  my son (21) had gone to work at Merivale Mall, and my daughter (19) was at college on Bealey Ave. (Husband was out of town on business). And I could not contact my children. That was the most dreadful experience!!

I knew I couldn’t drive to the Mall because the roads would be in gridlock, and so I did the only thing I could do. The Mall is about two kilometres away, so I ran to the Mall – ran, walked, ran walked. When I got there the Mall was cleared, people outside, and my son had already left to see if I was okay at home. So I turned around and ran home – half way there my right knee started to give out, from an old gym stress, so it was a limping run.

A lady called out to me, asking if I was okay, and I explained why I was running, asked her if she was okay, which she was, and gave her a big hug (this is what I term ‘the post earthquake hug’), then turned and kept running.

When I got home my son was here and he was okay. My husband had, by the time, made contact, so we let him know that we were okay and were still trying to reach our daughter! The only choice left was for my son to take the car and drive in to the college - no matter how long it took him to get there through the traffic - while I stayed home in case she had found a way to get home. My son got to college and let me know it was closed and deserted. Shortly after that she arrived home – you have no idea how relieved I saw to see her! As soon as she had her shoes off it was a massive hug. My children were okay. I could breathe again.

My son finally made it home through the traffic, and my daughter’s boyfriend made it round – gave him a big hug too!

My chimney and the front of my house have moved further apart, so we are now having to arrange from the chimney and part of the front of the house to be taken down and made watertight for winter - forget getting it repaired just yet as there is the insurance saga to get through before we can book a builder, and there are thousands of houses needing work, so this will not be quick!

The front of our house is in islands of concrete blocks, sections that move independently and perhaps allow for the house to move and not fall down. Anyway, the contractor has been called and they will assess the house tomorrow and get on to ripping the front down. They have promised to leave us comfortable for the winter - not pretty, but comfortable!! (I wonder if I could get someone to paint art on the plywood that they’ll have to put up?)

The city itself? Well, we lost more buildings, and the big ones that were on a lean are on more of a lean. The Christchurch Cathedral is further damaged, as is the Catholic Cathedral (which was so incredibly beautiful church inside). There’s rubble in the streets again. Buildings that may have been marginal are now to be condemned, or they fell over on Monday!

I spent the day after at the house of two gorgeous gals, shovelling the silt (result of the liquifaction which happened all over again), into wheelbarrows and piling it in the street so that the council can come along and take it all away. There are piles of this stuff in many streets!

Are we back to February 22^nd all over again? No, not really. The damage this time was not so extreme, as the movement was more horizontal, whilst the severely destructive February quake was more vertical. The CBD has been cordoned off since the February quake, so the most dangerous place in the city was not full of people, but was populated by builders, demolition workers, building assessors etc. These people were at serious risk, and it is so lucky that the 5.7 sent them out of the buildings before the 6.3 hit!

I was talking to friends last night (after a martial arts class in which a good sparring session helped me to release a bit of stress!) and we joked that we can tell which fault line the aftershocks are coming from by the sound and the feel. We have become quite expert at this…something that, one day, we will laugh about!

When earthquakes and aftershocks hit, we no longer scream “Oh no, it’s an earthquake!”, instead we gasp “Another one??!!!! Seriously??!!” (Often followed by “Are you f****** kidding me??!!)

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)

The Christchurch Earthquake. A sleeping fault line.

The fault line responsible for the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Saturday morning, had laid, sleeping for at least 16,000 years. This was an unknown fault line.

Civil defence has been practising for an earthquake, rehearsing what they would need to do. But they were practising for an earthquake expected from the known southern alp fault line. No one expected this earthquake.

We are, of course, now asking ourselves two questions, which no one is going to be able to answer.
1.Has Saturday’s earthquake taken the pressure off the southern alp fault line somehow?
2.Or are we still to expect that, one day, that southern alp fault line will rupture into a 8 or 9 magnitude earthquake?

Aftershocks continue.

We are already living in fear of the anticipated 6 magnitude aftershock. Is ‘living in fear’ an exaggeration? Sadly, no.

Between 9.46 am Monday morning and 8.24 am Tuesday morning (today) there were 30 aftershocks. The worst:
11.24 p.m. 5.2 magnitude ( shook houses badly, and caused a great deal of fear)
11.38 p.m. 4.0 magnitude (made the heart leap a bit)
11.40 p.m. 5.4 magnitude (set the heat thumping, the adrenalin pumping)
A night like that was enough to frighten everyone. When we thought things might be beginning to settle down, suddenly the aftershocks were worse than they had been the night before.

As much as we want to call off the party and all go home and get back to ‘normal life’…it’s not going to happen. Not for a while.

GNS believe that the quake had the strongest ground-shaking ever recorded in an earthquake in New Zealand. Whilst Cantabrians are competitive people, there are some things we would rather not lead the field in!

History.

Hopefully we cannot look to history for what to expect. Euan Smith, a Geophysics professor at Victoria University, said:

"In 1929 there occurred, in west Canterbury, a magnitude 7 earthquake which turned out to be the first of a series of seven major, magnitude greater than 7, earthquakes over the next 13 years. The series included the second and third largest earthquakes in European times.

"It is improbable that this occurrence of such large earthquakes in rapid succession was coincidental. There is no reason to think that such a series could not happen again."

Improbable? A week ago experts would likely have said a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Canterbury was improbable. And yet, here we are…

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.