Busytown: The shakes
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Hey guys, we are fine. Seriously, I lost a hyacinth forcing vase. Seeing the pictures this morning has been pretty sobering.
Also it appears we have a broken waterpipe - right under where our net cable comes in. So if I disappear, I aint'nt dead.
We are STILL having aftershocks, some of which would be significant had I not had the experience of not being physically capable of getting out of bed last night.
When I did get up, it was to check twitter to see if there was a tsunami warning, because we're pretty much right next to the estuary. We had one cat yowling to get out of the house and hte other desperate to get in.
And we'll be going out in a bit (I need groceries, will there be groceries? Will there be really CHEAP groceries?) and we will swing by the Haywoods and see what we can find out. Though it looks like we may have to walk some of the way up there because their road has tried to fall in the river.
Odd things. All those brick frontages falling down on Manchester St, but all that heritage Victorian Gothic? Pwned it.
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I'm hearing from student friends the university suffered some damage to the library and chemistry building (which is, quote, "a bit munted") - can anyone corroborate?
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I lived on top of the Hayward fault for 20 years (no relation) - with the big one always forecast for us at any time - you get use to them and a bit blase .... "oooh an earthquake" .... transitioning after a while to .... "that's gone on a bit too long" ...
We lived through the "little big one" - Loma Prieta - in fact we got warning (the whole speed of light faster than speed of sound thing) the guy on KQED said "oh my god an earthquake" and the station went dead - then we saw it rippling up the street - we were living in a safe part of Berkeley, just a little chimney damage - I was saved by the World Series though - I was supposed to be on that double decker freeway that collapsed at that time - didn't go to work that day because I thought the traffic would be really bad
We always felt we missed a bullet moving back to NZ but I've felt 2 7.0 in the past 2 years (from a distance) - I look under my house and shake my head - piles of bricks - I know what needs to be there to save us from earthquakes and it's not that - the 6.0 in Taipei at xmas was scarier (on the 12 floor of the hotel where do you go?_
So last night in Dunedin got to the "that's gone on for a little too long" stage to the "throwing on a bath robe" stage .... a friend found herself standing naked in her front door way
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Lucy, nothing on UC yet. 11am Radio NZ news said damage at Christchurch School of Medicine means people at a conference have to find other accommodation.
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I've come into work as I've got no power or internet at home. My neighbours chimneys have come down.
These shaky Isles are living up to the name.If you're a hertitage nut like me, it's a bad day as many of the nice buildings have gone. A little character lacking. So far it seems on a par with Dave Hendersons destruction of heritage. A building here, a street front there, but not dooms day.
Freck those after shocks just keep coming.
Hagley Park had heaps of silt in the middle of fields and near the pond. I thought at first the pond spilled over, but now think there might have been a bit of liquifaction.
It's a crisp sunny day and everyone seems to be smiling, except those who are still in shock.
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Its a lovely sunny day in the burbs, I'm in Avonside/Wainoni area and lots of chimneys on older homes are down or, like mine, crumbling in situ. I have still power but my friends up the road don't. A few shops are open, but not many, and those are only accepting cash. One dairy just tried to sell me a 2l milk for $5, lol, but I decided to cycle home and break out the milk powder for now.
I fell asleep early last night, tired from mowing all the lawns yesterday, so was already up and at my computer at the time the quake hit - had just finished deleting the overnight spam registrations on the Norml forums - and it was a bloody good one, long and noisy. Lots of significant aftershocks since, many not just tiny jolts but jerky jiggles. One rignt now, lasting... 12 seconds.
It was really impressive watching and listening to my house sway and jerk around in the big one, while I could see the BBC on tv in lounge from where I was sheltering in the lee of cupboards/breakfast bar between kitching and dining table. And amazingly, there is no significant damage apart from the header tank in roof sending a wee waterfall down through the wood burner flue gap, which was easily mopped up. There is also the chimney that looks about to crumble, and the few plants, bits of crockery and pictures that fell to the floor.
Another aftershock.... 7 seconds of movement.
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JT and Paula, thanks for the reports -- and glad to hear you're both well.
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Was due to get on a flight this morning to Chch, but first delayed, and then the conference I was heading to was cancelled due to damage in the building, so stayed home. Think Sacha may be in the place I was heading to, so hope he's doing Ok.
Yes, looking at squashed cars and collapsed buildings makes you thankful that they aren't reporting 'losses' of humanity, but still some serious injuries, and hopefully no one trapped without help.
Sure makes you take stock of what you have done in the way of preparedness for natural disasters.
All the best to anyone affected.
Jack@recordari -
Sacha's counting himself lucky to have flown home to Auckland last night.
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Sacha's counting himself lucky to have flown home to Auckland last night.
The power of foresight, eh? Glad I didn't end up arriving in Christchurch only to be stuck at the airport until the next flight out. Several colleagues are still down there though, so have to see what happens.
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This just in from David Haywood:
"All fine! House in huge disarray but still standing. We think God sent the earthquake to punish you but missed. Thanks for your kind message. DH." -
Ah, sense of humour not damaged
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Thanks for posting that Russell! Been sending positive vibes to Bob and his folks all morning.
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Damage to the old red brick buildings on Colombo St are pretty huge, and old chimneys down.
People fall into two groups, rubber neckers & the disposessed walking to another hotel with suitcases in hand.If you're a brickie, a chippie, or a plumber, get yourself down here.
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In Dunedin we were standing around in doorframes. I gather National Radio (through people texting in) was around as fast at working out it was the Christchurch region as Twitter.
Once the shaking stopped, my immediate thought was "Am I going to need a bathtub reservoir", so jumped online. That I could get online meant the basic internet links the length of the country was intact, so it wasn't the Wellington big one. Looking at the GNS drums I could tell it was southerly, but not west coast. Once I found out it was Christchurch, I stayed up until I found a working traffic conditions webcam (at the nzta ) to visually reassure myself. -
it was rather terrifying to land in London and see all those chimney pots, precariously poised like certain death over the heads of the unconcerned citizens wandering the streets in happy ignorance of the impending Blitz overhead
Then again, there's always the possibility of someone making eye contact on the Tube. Until you've feared that, you don't know what fear is.
Glad to see everyone reasonably undamaged.
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Meanwhile, Media7's researcher, Sarah Daniell, is in Hokitika, where they've got Biblical rain coming tomorrow -- up to 32cm for the next day and a half, heaviest in the Alps.
I think we'll be doing without her on Monday.
On the east coast, MetService is saying "severe northwest gales" tomorrow. There might be a few more things falling down by the looks of it.
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am I the only person looking at those pix and thanking the deity I believe in (and all the ones I don't) that this didn't happen at rush hour yesterday?
Given where I was at the time, I certainly am. It's a surreal feeling to be woken with that news. Glad to hear people are OK and I hope more of our friends will check in here. Relieved that the worst for the people I was at the GPs conference with seems likely to have been a trudge to relocate to lodgings out of the CBD or maybe some cuts from flying glass. Fingers crossed, anyway.
Could be a huge repair job of all the water/drainage/road systems given the swampy ground the city is built on. Lots of work to make the city safe from disease. And the beautiful heritage brick buildings are a loss for us all.
Stuff's photos seem better quality than Herald's, especially the early ones you have to click furthest to see.
Twitter trends in one place:
http://trendsmap.com/local/nz/christchurch -
It is interesting how, in times of crisis, people still tune to TV One and the state broadcaster is still, well, the state broadcaster - TVNZ had coverage, TV3 when I checked it was showing a Zumba infomercial.
RNZ was excellent.
The quiet efficiency and laconic professionalism of our emergency services is inspirational to see in action.
And one only has to look at the death toll recently in places like Chile and Haiti to know every structural engineering expert in the land should get a free drinks at the pub tonight.
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I estimate the quake here was between 6.1 &2. No damage, but it went on for plus 20sec. And the power went off almost immediately -and it normally wouldnt in that degree of quake - so we knew it had to be somewhere else...
I have a mate who is a photographer (used to be with The Press for 30 years) and he's been out shooting, and posting piks on the NZPA site for most of the morning (he was the only person able to send photos out - so his work in on the front page of 'Sydney MH' and various other o'seas msm. )David Alexander was able to tell us the my brother's property in Avonside Drive were OK - and more importantly, that my favourite cousin was also OK (he has a dislocated hip and lives there.)
Power came back on at 9.30ish, and by that time TV One had got their act together, and the family network was in action-
weather forecast for HK -light rain late tomorrow, changing to heavy norwest rain on Monday - shouldnt be too bad (the flying pencil is rarely grounded by rain.)
It'll be interesting driving over to Oamaru on Monday - I normally go the back road through Geraldine
Excellent that CHCH-based PASers are OK- and indeed, that damage to people is relatively limited-
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The NZPA images I assume Islander was talking about. If they haven't been posted already.
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Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes
EMMMAAAAA!!!
You and your Friday night philandering...
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Lol.
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If you're a brickie, a chippie, or a plumber, get yourself down here.
Apparently there's plenty of bailout money to grab.
But seriously, sympathies to all those affected by the event.
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