Another terrible earthquake in Christchurch New Zealand

[John Kitt]

Christchurch has been hit by another tremor 6.3, causing some considerable damage.

Hope all our colleagues nearby are OK

Thinking of you all.

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Reports on all our television networks at the moment that there has been a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that has hit Christchurch in New Zealand.  They're talking of mass fatalities, widespread destruction in the city centre, two buses crushed by falling buildings, the airport has been evacuated.  My understanding is they've been having aftershocks since the September quake, but this one is much worse damage than the original quake.

My thoughts go out to any of the New Zealanders who have relatives in, or are themselves living in the area.  Hopefully Lesley and all are OK?

I'm sure there will be more details coming forward, but I thought I would start a topic here to just make sure that everyone is safe and well.  I know we had a topic somewhere that we talked about the original quake, but I can't find it, so I hope no-one minds a new one.

All the best to New Zealand.  This one looks pretty bad.

[johnw]

Hoping all our New Zealand friends on the Forum are okay.

johnw

[Paul T]

I don't know whether footage is appearing much overseas, but it really is awful.  The main cathedral in the middle of the city has partially collapsed, mains water pipes have broken and areas are flooding, squashed parked cars along the streets, massive boulders dislodged off hillsides have crushed other buildings.  The quake was centred 10 to 20km south of the city (depends which reports you see) near a town called Lyttleton.  Apparently 60% of that town is destroyed.  In the two hours since, there have been 5 aftershocks between 4.0 and 5.5.  Apparently while this quake was less than the original, and of a shorter duration, this one was more violent in it's action, which is why so much has been destroyed.

[Lesley Cox]

At 1.51pm (lunchtime) Chch was hit by what was billed as another aftershock of 6.3 magnitude but local GNS scientists are thinking it is on a separate fault altogether and already there are aftershocks from this one. It was just 5kms deep and only 10kms from the city centre. The damage is worse than the early one and there are very likely fatalities, not confirmed yet.

[Lesley Cox]

John Kitt has also started a thread about it at just the same time. Perhaps Maggi, they could be joined together.

[Paul T]

Sorry, I hadn't seen it up in the members area.  I had thought this was the place to start it..... didn't think about it going in there instead.

Sorry.

[fleurbleue]

I was just searching on the member map where do live our New Zelanders friends   

[angie]

I have just listened to the news and have heard about the earthquake in Christcurch. They say it's really bad and 65 people have lost their lives.  I hope all our friends in New Zealand are safe . There is nothing worse waking up to hear about this tragedy. I hope no more lives will be lost.

Angie

[ranunculus]

We send our love, hopes and prayers for the residents of Christchurch - the images are heartbreaking.

[cohan]

All the best to our members in the area! This was top story on our national news...

[annew]

I heard this on the news as I awoke, and immediately thought of our NZ friends. I hope they and their families are safe, and also hope the loss of life is not as great as feared. It sounds awful, and my thoughts are with the people affected.

[DavMac]

As I get ready for bed here, near Wellington, it is starting to look like the loss of life may be even worse than feared and this quake may even exceed the death toll of the 1931 Napier quake when 256 people died. Hopefully this won't come to pass.

I have been lucky as relations-in-laws from the UK drove out of Christchurch just an hour before the quake to start a 2 week camper van trip around the South Island. Also I have just had an email from a friend to say that while she has a lot of repotting to do (again) her family all got home eventually and are all OK.

Days like this remind you about how precious each day is and how precious friends are.


David   

[Paddy Tobin]

This seems to be a dreadfully serious event with huge loss of life. I hope those we know through the forums have been fortunate; that they, their families, relatives and friends are safe.

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

This is dreadful and very frightening news from New Zealand.

I have merged the two threads here.

We can only hope that the damage and casualties are fewer than feared and that all our friends - whether they be SRGC members, registered forumists or "Lurkers" (as we call our regular readers) are safe after this disaster.
Our hearts go out to the people of New Zealand atthis time.