Saturday, September 04, 2010

Earthquake in Christchurch

We had a severe earthquake in Christichurch at 4.37am this Saturday morning. 7.1 on the Richter scale. A very nasty shake lasting about a minute, with a lot of after shocks. There was no damage to our house or things, but neighbours had vases and plates broken.

The damage in Christchurch does not seem too bad. The facades of some of the older brick buildings in the central city have collapsed. Radio reports suggest that there were no serious injuries, except for one man who was hurt by a collapsing chimney.

We still have electricity, but some parts of the city have lost power. Our most serious problem is no running water, but we have plenty stored round the house, so will be okay for a couple of days.



My daughter who is a nurse took this photo on her way to start her shift at the main Christchurch hospital a couple of hours after the quake. This spot became quite famous as all the media commentators tended to stand here when filing their reports.

4 comments:

Steve Scott said...

Ron,

I'm glad to hear you're fine. I'll pray for your water works folks to get things back in order.

Ron McK said...

Thanks Steve.

The water has now been restored, on low pressure.

Evening has arrived.

Gene said...

I thought of you at once. Glad you are OK. That intensity is actually more than Haiti.

Ron McK said...

Thanks Gene.
Given the intensity, it is is amazing that there has been no loss of life, and only two really serious injuries.