When my lazy butt gets around to it this screen will be less blank =)
Ooh! I may have gotten around to it. (Is gotten even english?! Gotten gotten gotten gotten. Hmm sounds like german with a little expectoration if not too careful)
So, yeah, you may have heard the Shakey Isles had a bit of a shake up. A 7.1 quake hit Christchurch in the early hours of Saturday morning. Whilst Te Anau registered a 7.3 last year, the substrata and rural nature of the land there meant the damage was not significant. Christchurch, however, is the second largest city in New Zealand. It has a strong English heritage with many beautiful old stone buildings and commercial premises. Early colonial farm homesteads are/were two storied, beautiful, old brick.
All these lovely buildings were built on alluvial and sandy soils. The constant shaking from the quake resulted in liquification of these subsurface particles. This is where the particles that normally grip together, become loose with the jiggling and become fluid. The surface will either subside, or, the subsurface will burst through like a volcano, flowing muddy streams of soil everywhere it can go. Any solid structure above is at the ground's mercy.
Over 100,000 out of 160,00 houses have sustained damage. Those that look fine externally, are cracked inside, and have moved off foundations. More people are having to move into shelters.
130 aftershocks, with many registering over 5 on the the richter scale, continue to bring more damage. Roads aren't being fixed until the tremors decline in intensity. A fresh fault line over at Akaroa (east of Christchurch) caused more seismic damage today(Wednesday) and triggered a series of quakes over 5.3 along the western Pacific Plate, over the following six hours.
The people of Christchurch are doing so well, with so many of them in temporary shelters or with family. As a result of being a country with a small and mobile population, you can't find a person around here who does not have friends or family in Christchurch.
It has hit the whole country hard and people are doing all they can to help. Special mention must go to the students of Canterbury University. Unable to attend lectures they have set up a Facebook page where people can ask for help and they arrive with spades, wheel barrows and muscle. So many North Island tradesmen have headed south to help where they can.
But don't offer us help because New Zealanders don't like to accept help from anyone. We just usually buckle down and do it ourselves. That's just the way we are.
9 comments:
Hey PP, hope you, any family and friends are ok after the earthquake.
Saw it on the news just now, goodness it made a mess, how scary.
Plus severe aftershocks, hope it is all over.
Glad it looks like no deaths, but 2 men badly injured so far and so much damage.
Hope the recovery work starts swiftly and goes smoothly to get power and water back and help everyone repair and rebuild.
Hi Ergo. Thanks for dropping by and checking. =)
It's been crazy but I guess this result is always the risk when building on alluvial plains where there are faultlines. My stepsister lives in Christchurch. She has some minor damage and no water or sewerage. One of my daughter's friends is rural west christchurch. Her road is unpassable. It's sheared up, sheared down, sideways. The historic two story settler homesteads out that way have been completely wrecked. Back in the city the rivers have partially burst their banks and are mixing with burst sewer mains. To add to it all, we've had a plane crash on the West Coast with nine dead, and a sub antarctic storm due with temperatures expected to drop to -2degrees c to hit Christchurch. Some people are in for an awful night.
And then I had to go out to the airport to send my girl back down to Dunedin! Worst day, worst timing ever >_<
Oh poor New Zealand, I hadn't seen about the plane as well.
Glad everyone you know is safe but it's going to take a lot of work to get everything fixed up. I hope the storm doesn't cause too many extra problems for everyone, it's like "it never rains but it pours"
Hope your stepsister and daughter's friend and family are able to get whatever help they need and that all the water and power is fixed as soon as they can. It's a huge job, we were without power and therefore water for almost a week after the cyclone, at least we had a little generator and then got a larger one for the last 2 days when friends got their power back. It makes everything so much harder when you have no basic services.
I'll be keeping posted with the news here.
Take care.
Hello PP:)
I was worried about you. Ergo very kindly filled us in on your situation. I'm glad you're ok though it must be awful to see all the devastation around you.
Take care PP.
*runs in huffin and a puffin*
Finally made it!!!!
*grabs Possum by the tail, picks her up and hugs her ~ trying not to shake her too much due to recent natural events*
Hello Possum!!!! Thank you, so much, for the birthday wishes!! Late is perfectly acceptable, love!
It's the thought that counts, early ~ on target ~ or late! So, thank you for thinking of me!!!
I'm so happy to hear that you and family are all okay.
I'm sorry to hear about the amount of damage the area of Christchurch sustained. I hope they didn't suffer too, too many more ill effects with that storm.
I'm wishing you, your family and your country a quiet and peaceful rest of September. Although, I know it will be very busy with clean up and rebuilding (for months to come).
Take care and thank you, again!!!
Hugs and Much Love,
~Namaste~
6/Wendy
*more hugs*
PS: Who is that fine looking specimen of manhood in that July 16th post? Hmmm...
;)
xoxo,
6/Wendy
Hi Ergo,
Ah, bless Mother Nature. She decided to let the North Island join the shimmer and shake party with a couple of good ones of our own - both east and west coasts. Pity the poor south though with over 130 aftershocks, most between 4 and 5.9. We have nothing to moan about! Hey, congrats on your new Prime Minister! She made history official. =) And what is happening in Victoria?! The flooding is incredible. You country people are so well prepared with your generators.
And some New Orleans girls are too. ;)
Hi Welshie,
I'm all good thanks. One of the aftershocks sent my stepsister's chimney into her house, but they can still live in it. We're so glad winter is just about gone. Christchurch gets a lot of snow so at least they don't have to contend with that!
Hi 616,
The residents just want the shaking to stop. Lots of buildings that were declared safe are now getting the dreaded red letter taped to them. We've all got our fingers crossed but the tectonic plates are still doing some serious moving. We completely straddle the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates so we expect quakes, but we always thought Wellington, not Christchurch, would get the big one.
Hope you're all doing well. =)
Oh, yes, that be Milan, 616. He's also lead singer of the band Pluto. Their big album was Pipe Line Under The Ocean (get it lol)In his younger years he did a bit of acting. =)
Hey PP! Glad to hear you and yours are weathering through the shaking.
I read somewhere you people from NZ buckle down and fix it yourselves, so I'll just offer a bit of coffee and some chocolate to ease the pain a bit.
[leaves a plate of chocolates]
[licks fingers]
Don't worry about returning the plate, I'll get it some other time. :)
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