Christchurch

[Freuds_Cat]

Very sad to see whats happened in Christchurch. Beautiful city, beatiful people.

[OldManC]

That's devastating. Were there many casualties? All I've heard on the news here is that there were rescue operations going on. 

[Chaser001]

It's very unexpected.  I just don't associate New Zealand with earthquakes.  The damage looks so extensive.   

[Freuds_Cat]

NZ exists at all due to 2 tectonic plates pushing against each other which is kinda like the west coast of the US.

The number of confirmed dead remains at 75 and more than 300 are missing. It was a 6.3-magnitude earthquake.

[Dave W]

It looks very bad. Parts of the city seem to be in ruins, not just a few buildings. The death toll is already quite high for a city its size. I sure hope a lot of the missing can be rescued.

[Basvarken]

A cousin of mine lives near Christchurch. He emigrated from The Netherlands to New Zealand two years ago.

I just heard today he and his family are still alive. But their house has collapsed and they're living in a tent in the backyard.

[Dave W]

tubehead (Tony) is from New Zealand but a long way from Christchurch. I see he logged in last night. Any other members here from NZ?

[Dave W]

That's too bad, Rob. At least they're alive. Best wishes to them.

[Pilgrim]

Those photos are chilling!

I'm not sure whether the folks in NZ use building codes similar to those in L.A., but it appears that it would be a good idea.

I share Dave's hope that many of those missing people will be found yet and will survive.

[Barklessdog]

Last I heard 65 dead 300 missing. Just horrible.

[Freuds_Cat]

most of the buildings that seem to have collapsed look quite old. Like Christchurch Cathedral which is 180 years old. There are a lot of smaller buildings built around the 30's and 40's that have suffered. There seems to be only a few of the more modern buildings that have collapsed. The TVNZ building looks the worst. Some explaining will need to be in regards to that one I suspect.
I have a few friends there, all are OK.

[Aussie Mark]

Christchurch had a 7.1 last September that didn't pancake any buildings and didn't kill anybody.  The difference this time was that it happened in the middle of a week day, as opposed to 4am on a Sunday morning with the September quake.  And, the epicentre of this quake was only 5km beneath the surface.  Lots of soil liquefaction this time, which is why a lot of buildings crumbled this time. 

The confirmed toll is 75, but there are 50 bodies inside the pancaked Canterbury TV building - the search and rescue teams have confirmed there is no longer any sign of life in that building.  There are also unknown numbers of bodies in the cathedral spire and another large office block.  The tallest building in the city, the Grand Chancellor Hotel (27 stories) is empty but is leaning heavily to one side and is expected to fall within the next few days (a 2 block exclusion zeon exists around it).

Thankfully, all my company's staff in Christchurch and their families are ok, but our office there is totalled.

[Aussie Mark]

All I've heard on the news here is that there were rescue operations going on. 

I guess the Chicago mayoral election took up all the air time over there :-)

PS. There's something happening in Libya too, so I've heard.

[clankenstein]

 its very very bad down there .i have got hold of my relatives and friends in christchurch,i think we are going to be having some guests here while the aftershocks are still happening.air new zealand have put on $50 flights for people who want to get out of christchurch.the rescue effort has been boosted by our army and australian urban search and rescue teams,others are on the way from japan and the u.s. and taiwan,maybe more too.i feel a bit useless sitting here in the sun while my mates are in a tent and crapping in a hole in the back yard.still,the efforts to restore power and water are working well in suburban ares,the central city is totalled really and an exclusion zone because of buildings that could still fall like the hotel grand chancellor,quite big and has an alarming lean on.sadly the rescue effort at the ctv building has been abandoned now.

[Dave W]

Thanks for the report, Tony.