Christchurch New Zealand

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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:18 am

Damn. This is awful. Wish I could help.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:44 am

I hadn't seen this on the TV news. Eater had it first for me. I then looked it up online. The devastation is just amazing in magnitude. I even found a feed from NZ TV channel 31 I think it was.

From what I have heard is it wasn't known that Christschurch was built on an earthquake fault until recently. What a way to find out. Crying or Very sad

I was in the Northridge earthquake in the 90s. I was nearly 100 miles away in Orange County going to school. I chose not to stay the night down there and drove 250 miles after a night class to (then) home instead of taking a chance of being stuck with more freeway over crossings coming down.

It was a 6.7 and lasted half as long as the quake in Christschurch. I can only imagine...

My thoughts and prayers are with you all in NZ.

Master Baiter Joined: 14 Feb 2011 Posts: 164

TV3 news is probably the best place to get information.

http://www.3news.co.nz/National/ChristchurchEarthquake/tabid/1438/Default.aspx

Americans & other tourists are being flown out of Christchurch and into Auckland & places in the North Island.

Faultlines.... they're everywhere.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:14 am

Nice map Mark, ty

What it doesn't show clearly, is the South Island is riding over the Australian plate in the south, while the North Island from Wellington north, is being subducted under the Australian plate, so we have a buckling and twisting motion for most of the shakes we get in Wellington, and to the top of the South Island.

It makes for an interesting life, one of the reports from the last day or so, had 1400 shakes a year in New Zealand, most under 3, a few between 3 and 5, and maybe one a year over 5. I think we have had enough for the time being, and still more aftershocks happening as they keep trying to find people still trapped.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 4:03 am

Oh my God, that's terrible. I'm away and just heard about this tragedy. You're all in my prayers.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 4:18 am

I am watching video on the news as I type. They are still pulling people out of the rubble. You're in my thoughts, Kiwis. Wish there was something I could do.

Master Baiter Joined: 14 Feb 2011 Posts: 164

I wonder how long it will be before we start getting emails asking for relief donations via WU & Moneygram.......

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 5:16 am

Just speaking to a friend who has family in Christchurch - the suburb of south New Brighton, which has been described as 'unliveable'

Her mother was just leaving the house when it struck. She stood in the doorway while it punched away. Behind her all she could hear was breaking glass as things came off shelves. In the streets holes appeared as the pipes ruptured. Power is out, as is water.
They have a battery-powered radio, so they could hear the instructions to boil water and to not flush toilets (they have been told to dig a hole in the garden), but without electricity or gas they can't boil water..
Relief water supplies are now being tankered in and hundreds of people turned up to fill containers with the fresh water - but they had forgotten to bring a tap (faucet) with which to regulate the water (it was a milk tanker), so the residents went away empty handed for now.

Tonight her family are having cold soup by candle-light, and eating their way through the fridge which, without power, is defrosting. But you can't eat raw chicken.

Her brother was 500m away from the centre of the city. He was at lunch looking at his office when it struck. He said the ground turned to water and he saw a man outside get covered in rubble. He went out to help but by the time the bricks had been pulled off the guy was dead.

People are still walking around in a daze. My friend only got through by phone after 8 hours of trying; when she did, all her brother could say is "It's really bad, really bad". He kept saying it over and over.

He said this morning it was eerily quiet. Then engines would rev up as something got moved. Then screams and silence again. The dead are just put aside while they search for the living; then the dead are taken away.

Back in the suburbs, he says, they have no idea of the devastion in the centre because they have no TV and no transport - or at least no roads to go on. The shops are shut and even if they weren't, in this cashless society of electronic transactions, they are effectively moneyless.

So they just wait. The batteries will run out eventually; hopefully power will be on in a few days.

The husband meanwhile was asked to get to work - he's a plumber. They go in when the bodies are out and the building is reasonably safe; them and the electricians.

The roads are impassable, so he took his son's bike.

"Ah", said the son when he found out.
"Problem?" said his mother.
"It's got a puncture, it'll last about 5 minutes"

She hasn't bothered putting her stuff back on the shelves; the aftershocks just tip them off again..

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 7:29 am

We're fucked, the infrastructure is destroyed.

I moved my family out just over a year ago, we live 40 minutes north. My wife and 4 week old were in there when it happened and they barely escaped.

Through my work I'm involved in Civil Defence, our district isnt directly involved yet, but we are supplying resource, and preparing for setting up emergency resources for local and regional government so they can relocate here.

The irony is there are already blasted internet scammers... less than 24 hours Local newspaper link.

The first earthquake in September was a bullet we dodged, it happened overnight and there were no direct casualties, mainly because the city was sleeping.

Now the buildings are fractured already and just crumbling. We're waiting for the biggest hotel in the city to fall, they have cleared 5 blocks just waiting.

The news is being very conservative, the CTV building has... had a creche in it... the main news is based on the central city, but the suburbs are stuffed too.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:22 am

Yeah - and already 5 looters have been arrested. Aren't we allowed to shoot them? Pricks.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:41 pm

Unbelievable the first pics of the destruction the U.S. has seen. It looks like the remnants of the twin towers...all over town! Like most here, I wish I could come help.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 8:33 pm

The most amazing thing for me was a clip on last night's coverage. The reporter was on solid ground - the street - and walked past first one car, sunk up to its wheel arches in the road (imagine if you drove into grey porridge and it settled nice and flat, then set solid), then up to another which was tilted at 45 degrees, engine underground and the doors agape. Both front seats were visible only by the headrests. The ground had liquefied, swallowed the car and set again. It is stuck like a weird piece of modern art.
The man and his dog reportedly got out safely.
When people say the ground turned to water, I guess they mean it. Last September I remember seeing a TV clip where a wooden fence was shown with scratch marks where a woman tried, successfully, to not drown in the liquefied earth (it was her fingers nails that made the scratches).

What the hell can you do against that?!

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:16 pm

UK Guardian wrote:

Liquefaction is a huge problem in Christchurch because the city is built on an alluvial plain, on sediments that are vulnerable to liquefaction," Clague said. "When shaken, these sediments transform into a liquid, causing irregular settlement of the ground, which is extremely damaging to buildings and buried structures, like water lines.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/2011/feb/23/new-zealand-christchurch-earthquake-geology

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Best wishes to all of you down there.

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 1:24 am

I read the sad story of two young teenagers waiting for news of their mother who is missing in the CTV building. They were shown grief stricken and whilst this was happening some low-life person was breaking and entering the family home. These scum need the book thrown at them. How can somebody take advantage of others who are facing the darkest days of their lives.
Cantabrians are a wonderful breed of people and their love and spirit will get them through this but there will be many deep wounds to heal first.
Love and prayers go out to them all.
Crying or Very sad

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:14 am

Looters are another form of pond scum.

Master Baiter Joined: 14 Feb 2011 Posts: 164

A second, more sophisticated email scam has emerged targeting people wanting to help victims of the Christchurch earthquake.
The scam is designed to look like it is from the Red Cross, directing people to a fake website where they are asked for credit card details.
Signs the site was bogus included the misspelling of Christchurch and other words, the long web address which was not hosted on the Red Cross website, and the insecure payment page.
Another scam used emails sent from "James McCoy" claiming to be from Donate4Charity NZ, a legitimate United Kingdom-based charity.

Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:56 am

I don't know if anyone has already shown this link but it has all the before and after photos of the places and streets where there has been devastation in Christchurch.
Runt the mouse from left to right over the photos and you will see the before and after shots.

http://www.3news.co.nz/National/ChristchurchEarthquake/PhotosBeforeandAfter/tabid/1495/Default.aspx

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:03 am

Our thoughts here in Oz are with our mates across the creek.
Hopefully we can have a great game of cricket tonight (which the aussies win... just)

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:27 am

A 21 year old young lady from our church here in the states had been travelling with her best friend, also a young American lady. They were in Christchurch and the best friend was killed right next to her. The young lady from our church was unscathed.

The parents of the surviving girl, both close friends of mine, located the dead girl's parents on facebook. The concerned parents were requesting news from their daughter. My friend, the husband had to call them and tell them that their daughter was dead.

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:41 am

I'm so sorry Tuco. I will keep this in my prayers. Crying or Very sad

Master Baiter Joined: 14 Feb 2011 Posts: 164

That's awful, Tuco.

At least her parents know now.
Most relatives of overseas visitors have no clue.

Understandably, they're being very meticulous about double-checking identities (which is near-impossible in many cases, due the nature of massive head injuries - or just whole bodies being squashed) that it's taking a while for families to be notified.
And I would imagine families of those from overseas would be harder to track down.

So they're not left wondering how she is, like so many others.
Very small comfort, but.......

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:48 am

I have kept a candle lit, for victims and survivors and their families. It will remain lit for quite a while. I'm so sorry, I wish I could do more. Crying or Very sad

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2003 Posts: 4747

The whole thing seems like a nightmare, unbelievable. My thoughts and prayers with you all of you.

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:14 am

We just had 2 brain dead fuckwits in court for stealing the generators that were powering the search and rescue headquarters, Refused bail, hopefully they will get the minimum which is 7 years, and the max is 15

You really have to wonder what rock some of these pond scum live under during the day