Christchurch Earthquake 2010
September 4th
We were jolted awake in the early hours of the morning, with the bed moving side to side violently. Rowena having lived in Japan for many years, was used to earthquakes, so sprang out of bed and opened both doors, not to be stuck inside because of jammed doors, and then moved away from the glass balcony door. However those doors were swinging about so wildly Max hurriedly shut them again. The earthquake was still going strong. The photo shows the mess of broken wine glasses, big jars with cooking ingredients etc. on the kitchen floor.
When it subsided we dressed and cautiously went downstairs and outside, taking a battery-run radio with us. If we weren’t the epicentre, then somewhere had had a huge shake. It was interesting that the radio station was getting texts from listeners, before they had information from other sources. The aftershocks were strong and frequent. We decided to head up the hill to our little mountain hut for the remaining hours until daylight. In the morning we discovered how badly Christchurch had been hit. Some of the beautiful old buildings were saved because of recent earthquake strengthening projects, but many others, especially churches, had walls down and towers toppled. The cathedral was not able to be used for weeks, and so the first Sunday saw a huge outside service in the square, for all those who could not worship in their own churches. This added to the strong sense of solidarity and resilience.
Rowena had a taste of how traumatic it was for people living by themselves, when Max went to visit his brother’s family in Rotorua. The emergency backpack was beside the bed, also slippers, head torch and clothes. Every after-shock was a fearful moment of “Is this a big one again...?”
Many people with houses demolished or needing repairs and land no longer stable, need to wait anything up to 3 years. For the elderly this is very traumatic.
And now 3 months after....many computers, including our laptop, have died from the aftershocks.
We all realise and are thankful for the fact that no lives were lost. The timing was incredibly lucky. And we have learnt a lot for civil defence and will be much better prepared for another emergency.
What a year 2010 was! First the Tsunami, then drought, floods, and then the earthquake.
