Earthquake in New Zealand

Here is a letter we just recieved from our couch surfing friends who just went through a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch New Zealand. We are so happy to hear that they are O.K.

Dean, Wendy, Miranda and Colton


We have finally got Internet back. Here's the situation at our place.

The 6.3 magnitude quake struck about 5km from us. I was at work and was talking to Helen on the phone. I heard Helen scream and then the phone went dead. Before I could even wonder why she was screaming our offices started shaking like mad.

Things were falling over, the whole building was shaking from side to side. I dived under my desk and spent the time hoping the second floor didn't come down on me.

After it all stopped, I grabbed my gear and headed out as we evacuated the office. I hopped onto my motorbike and headed home. The roads were crazy. I rode on the footpath in some places so I could get home. I was glad I had the bike as the roads were gridlocked for cars. All the traffic lights were out and it was mob rules at the intersections. There was mud and water everywhere from liquefaction. The roads were buckled and shops were collapsed.

I got home and Maddi and Helen were fine. They were pretty scaredThe inside of the house was a mess, but otherwise intact. We have some big gaps between our house and the driveway now, and it seems like the garage has moved a few inches further away from the house.

2 days on we are still without power, water, sewer or phone. I have a small generator which I bought for emergencies, so we can watch the news and charge up our cellphones when needed.

We have set up a long-drop dunny in the backyard. It is a work of art if I don't say so myself. Lucky I have built a few in my time.

We are still experiencing aftershocks. There was one just then. For those of you who haven't experienced one, imagine if someone takes your house and hits it so hard it wobbles from side to side for a few seconds. This is accompanied by the sound of a substantial explosion quite nearby. It is usually preceded by a loud rumbling noise like a jet aircraft.

But we are alive and well. Our back neighbours' house is wrecked (split in two) and many more from behind us are in a bad way as well. It seems our street of older weatherboard houses came out OK again. But we will all need a good building inspection before we can move onto fixing any damage.

Darren, Helen and Maddison