blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
blamebrampton ([personal profile] blamebrampton) wrote2010-09-04 11:35 pm

Oh New Zealand ...

I'm not sure how much news coverage it is receiving in the Northern Hemisphere, but Christchurch, New Zealand's most picturesque major city, had a massive earthquake early today. The good news is that no one was killed by the quake, though there were two serious injuries and I read that one person died of a heart attack. But there is very serious damage to the city, looking at the photos I saw some of my favourite shopping blocks without front walls, which is terrible for the owners and those who enjoyed the community as it was.

Most of my friends in the city have checked in, so far a car and two chimneys and lots of small things broken for them, but insurance should cover it all. No power for most, and the water, which is some of the best tap water in the world -- that level of deliciousness you only get from filtering through stone for a few thousand years before pumping into the pipes, needs boiling before drinking. I think my flistees tend to be mostly North Island and Dunedin, but think there are a few ChCh folks out there, I hope you're well! 

It says something about how serious Kiwis are when they enforce building regulations on their tectonically exciting islands that a quake bigger than the one that hit Haiti could cause such comparatively minimal damage. But it's still quite a serious hit. And the economy over there has not been fabulous. I hope that the insurers and government are able to bring out the money that will be needed, at least builders and people who lay tarmac will do well out of it. And I feel sure that Australia will help, even if we have no proper government to be making offers to yours yet.

In other news, Reign of Fire is the best flu movie ever.
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[identity profile] meredyth-13.livejournal.com 2010-09-04 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
It's both sad to see how much has been damaged, and gratifying to see how well the city has stood up to such a pounding. But, the infrastructure damage is going to take a massive effort. And the really difficult part now, as I understand it, will be assessing if the buildings that don't 'seem' to be damaged are actually still sound and safe.

I did see a report that they were evacuating the whole city, but I think that was mis-represented? Still, I believe they're tanking in water, and they're not supposed to use their toilets.

This is going to be a mammoth clean up.

*is sad*

[identity profile] shadowedkit.livejournal.com 2010-09-04 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry to interrupt but just to let you know-- they have evacuated the city centre due to health and safety reasons as there is alot of rubble on the road, the buildings are not safe and the possibility of aftershocks. Some areas on the other side of city centre-- New Brighton and such have been evacuated due to flooding, but the whole city hasn't been evaucated.

Water wise--they have been advised to boil and conserve water as much as possible. Was at one of the big supermarkets there yesterday to buy water for friends, and they were almost completely out...
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[identity profile] meredyth-13.livejournal.com 2010-09-05 10:32 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for that - I hope everyone is doing ok. We had heard today that the violent winds and rain we experienced last night were heading that direction. I can only hope it blows out before reaching you.

:)