General Chat

Hi All

There has just been a 6.3 quake in Christchurch, NZ.

Apparently all phone lines to Christchurch are down. There has been damage to buildings, some are down, and the hospital has been evacuated.

If you have relatives or loved ones in the area you may only be able to reach them on cell phones.

Hopefully no-one has been hurt.

Thought you would all like to know.

Annie
xxxx

I don't have relatives there but do have 'GR' friends in NZ I do hope they have not been affected in anyway, also yourself Annie.

6.3 is very high and with buildings down there are unfortunately likely to be fatalities:(...............less us hope that if there are that they very few..Hopefully none.

Christchurch people are on the constant alert Sandie.

This one has done damage in the city - the Avon River which runs around by the Uni is fairly murky. The water in the city has been cut off/ so public loos are closed. The radio building and the church across from it have toppled. This one has been shallower than the major one last year but there is a lot more damage to major buildings/assets etc.

Two buses have been crushed by falling buildings and some people are trapped in buildings.

The news is flat out doing bulletins trying to keep us up.

Darn someone came to the door when I was in the middle of listening and typing.

I thought I better look in to see if Huia had posted it up but see Annie has done instead.

Update Annie - was just told Christchurch Hospital is okay - and had not been evacuated.

Persie

Annie are you watching TV3. It is bl**dy terrifying. They are just doing a recap. But prior to that they were trying to get bodies out of the collapsed buildings.

Parademics have been flown in in copters etc. They have set up triage posts in about three areas. It looks like a war zone. To me I would also be worried about another one happening.

Persie

I have just been listening to some of the news reports, seems Christchurch Cathedral is badly damaged as well as other special buildings and lots of people missing or trapped, believed sadly there are many fatalities.

I can only send my sympathy to all those involved and positive thougths for help to reach those trapped and injured as soon as possible. It must be so frightening, one mum was saying she couldn't get news of her children at their school.

Lizxx

Just watching it on Sky News here in Aussie.

Absolutley terrible, and those poor people trapped inside fallen buildings, roof tops............. and total carnage everywhere.

They are telling us this 6.3 Quake was only 5km's below the surface, and this is why there is so much devistation.

Also being told the port town of Lyttelton is unlivable ( flattened ) now.

Thinking of all our mates in NZ.

God bless.

Tony ( Australia )

Poor old Lyttelton it got about $50million worth of damage last September and now it is just rubble.

The outskirts of the CBD all look okay not sure about Brighton and I know earlier they were worried about Banks Peninsula (which Cook thought was an Island when he was here) but I think it is okay out there.

The city was just getting back on its feet, retailers were being more positive and now this. It is a place that I really like visiting (not as much as Dunedin) but it is (was) a lovely place.

Persie

Just read some updates. It is truely terrible. There are reports now of bodies being recovered so unfortunately people have perished. I can only imagine the terror they must have felt at the time of the quake and now in the aftermath.

Am thinking of everyone in that region. Hoping that they can get to safety.

Have only been to Christchuch once myself. Remember climbing the cathedral tower, and was terrified of the narrow stairway. They were concerned for the cathedral after the last quake, looks like this one did the damage. The whole of the city would be unrecognisable to me now.

Annie
xx

Perse.

That beautiful Cathedral in Christchurch that survived the last quake in sept....now collapsed after this quake.

Such a devastating blow to NZ people and their heritage.

We here ( Aust - NZ ) in the Southern Hemisphere dont have a lot of old buildings as it is, and to see what we do have, "built by our early settlers" now destroyed by mother nature.....tis heartbreaking mate.

17 people presumed dead so far.
Very sad.

30 people are trapped in one collapsed high rise.

NZ government asking for International help,to search fallen buildings for people missing.
Underground water and gas mains ruptured causing havoc. Major roads ruptured.

Sky news update: 65 people now killed in latest Quake.

I'm very worried

.................... I have an internet friend who lives along that "high road" between Christchurch and Lyttleton


Annie

........ we were in Christchurch in January 1993, then OH and daughter were back there a couple of months later. It was a beautiful city.



sylvia

What dreadful news, my thoughts and prayers for all people living in or visiting in and around Christchurch NZ.

I was woken by the sound of very high wind blowing all around our house and when i looked out of the window all the trees are swaying the pool is full of rubbish and the sky and sea appear to be the same colour and then I read this thread and asked myself why am i worried? So now my thoughts are with you all.

Can I add my sympathy and prayers to those of others. I love Christchurch and have been there three times. The cathedral was a beautiful building. It is right on Cathedral Square in the centre of the city. The Catholic basilica has also been damaged.
Liz, I also heard the reports from the mother terrified that she could not find out about her children. They were in the suburb of Heathcote.
Colin

Oh Sylvia

I do hope they are okay Lyttelton is not looking too happy.

My eldest daughter is afraid of heights unlike her son who when aged 3 climbed the ladder his father left leaning against the side of the house.

She climbed the cathedral tower, she was so determined, made her then boyfriend carry her handbag much to his disgust and she was crying by the time she got to the top. She has the certificate and it is stuck on the wall. LOL

I had always thought Christchurch to be a nice safe flat town all laid out neatly so you don't get lost and certainly not one to fall apart at the seams. Wellington where one lot of my family live is the city of earthquakes, they are always having them.

Persie

Persie

Thank you


unfortunately, this friend lives alone, she's in her mid- to late 70s


her house wasn't damaged in the first 'quake, but she lost a lot of her treasures, china, glass etc as they all fell off her shelves. Plus water, gas etc were cut for a number of days.


I didn't know her at the time, but we drove that high road over land from Christchurch to Lyttelton back in 1993 ............... it was a pretty scary road!

We returned to Christchurch through the tunnel!



just about to go to bed ................ I'll be thinking about all the people in Christchurch and area.




Have any of you been to Napier?? That was the city that was destroyed by an earthquake back in the 1920s or 1930s ............ it was all re-built in Art Deco style. Now a beautiful place!




We also live on the Ring of Fire around the Pacific ................. and get almost daily tiny earthquakes. We keep being told that the "Big" one is overdue.






sylvia
xxx

I've just heard on another site from someone in Australia that the epicentre was under Lyttelton ..... our mutual friend lives in a house that overlooks Lyttelton Harbour.


That person gave this website for some up-to-the minute news.


www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/today



sylvia

Thank you for the link Sylvia. 37 quakes today (before and after the main one). And unrelated to the Greendale fault.

Thinking of all those affected in New Zealand by this latest natural disaster.
I hope everyone remains safe
Thinking of those who have lost family and friends there

Linda

Vic has just been telling me about this awful news!!
Thinking of everyone in NZ, especially those who are affected by this awful tragedy.

jude xx

What terrible news. My thoughts are with the people of Christchurch NX,

Hoping Kiwijean is OK. She was on the board yesterday and lives in Christchurch.

The world certainly 'shrinks' when you are on the internet.