Christchurch Earthquake

[Marked 197]

Hey guys,

 

Just want to make this topic to say RIP to the people who have died today in the Christchurch earthquake. Well I shouldnt say that because its not the first over the last 6 months. Christchurch is the biggest city (2nd largest in the country) in the south island of New Zealand, and where I live. It struck at 12:50pm, the worst possible time. Here is one video (plenty on youtube):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzrMod86B1k

 

So my personal experience with the quake was rather unpleasant. I was setting in a lecture theater, just my 2nd say of university for the year, and the quake hit. It was strong, obviously, and the lights went out, but we knew the drill from last years 7.1 quake (which wasn't as bad as this one). I got under my seat, though the building remained in tact, and the students were promptly evacuated to the open fields. Nearly my entire family were working today in Christchurch, both parents and my older brother. My phone was dead, and i didnt have any of their numbers. I sat down and waited 3 hours but none of family had come for me (i did not drive to uni that day) so I had no idea whether they were alive or dead. That was the worst part, and the though of life without my family was continually running through my mind and I nearly broke down.. Also there were plenty of aftershocks, one of them was as big as 5.7.

 

I was able to communicate with my older brother who hijacked one of our broken down cars and he came to get me, and we the found our parents back at home. My family are all well.

 

I'm watching the news now and they're saying between 200-400 people are expected to be found dead. I just want to say RIP to all of those poor people, and thanks to all of the help we're getting (from places like australia, japan and even the US). It is a sad day in NZ.

[Tomo2000 60]

Yeah, fuck man.. I just watched the hour special and I was like "Man I hope Marked is OK". Glad to hear you are, man. The stuff I saw was horrific, to say the least.. I remember the 200-year-old church thats not lying in ruins from when I visited years ago... Woah..

[Marked 197]

Thanks, I appreciate your concern. Yeah the church is called the cathedral, those bricks just came flying off... Wow it made an hour special in australia, thats pretty big. We're getting rescue personal from your country that will arrive in the morning :) Theres videos and images here if you guys want to look: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4688231/65-dead-in-devastating-Christchurch-quake

[gRaViJa 4]

I just heared about it on the news here in Belgium, terrible. Good thing you and your family are allright.

[Dark Den 4]

Thats terrible :shok:

At least you and your family are fine.Must have been quite scary , i have only been in one very small earthquake till now (and that was scary enough).R.I.P to those who died in the earthquake.

[Midnite Reaper 2]

Glad you're okay, Marked. It's horrible that it started raining not long after, and then the liquefaction on top of that. Just terrible.

[Kiriashi 117]

I'm so glad you are okay Mark. What a terrible story. :<

 

I'm not familiar with New Zealand history; are earthquakes common in that area?

 

Maybe you should think about moving.

[LNER fan 1]

Glad to hear you and your kin are OK.

 

In other news, I might have just changed my mind about wanting to move to New Zealand.

 

Oh well. I can still move to Svalbard.

[Broken Messiah 20]

That sucks man, I didnt hear anything about it in SC,USA :unsure: Hope everything turns out all right. Me being the immature 16 yr old that I am, I must ask; Does the "put your head under the table feel reassuring, or effective?" I dont mean to offend.

[Marked 197]

Thanks everyone ^_^ Last night I distracted myself as much as possible before I slept so id fall asleep fast. Because there are tons of aftershocks, I think like 6 of them greater than 4.

 

There is tons of tragic news coming in about deaths. But there are also a lot of survivors. The rescue operations are really amazing, everyone who can help is helping, and I think we'll save as many live as possible.

 

@LNER fan: My thoughts about Christchurch have changed too. I have to attend university for several more years and I don't want to be there or my family working there. But, what choice do we have. I think if they say this quake is an afterhock of the quake in sep 4 2010 (7.1) then it will put peoples minds to ease because it will make them think this is one long event. I am 20 years old and never felt a quake until last year.

 

@Broken Messiah: During the quake? Umm its the only thing you can do. It will save you from roof tiles, it will not save you from the building collapsing. Its not reassuring, you are 100% helpless. You can't exactly move, or think, during such a violent shake.

[FranklinX 37]

This is really sad. I am so sorry for your the loses. This hurts my heart.

 

I am so glad your family is okay.

[Marked 197]

Thanks man I really appreciate that :) I'll try post some survivor stories tomorrow, and hopefully I'll find some footage from my uni which is where I was at the time.

[madanchi 18]

wow glad your okay marked, I heard it on the news yesterday and today. Must have felt bloody scary, i've been in a simualtor in London a while back

[Knuckles 1]

Good to know you and your family survived the snake pit of a situation and very unfortunate for the estimation of 200-400 that deceased. But to say the least I am very happy about the former.

[isaacsol 10]

It's good to hear that you are fine, I hope that Christchurch can recover quickly from this tragedy.

[rgangsta 43]

I was caught in an earthquake once. Although it wasn't as serious as Marked's, it was relly scary.

Glad you're okay, Marked.

[Marked 197]

Thanks everyone :) I am quite fortunate where I live, and actually not all parts of the city have bad damage. The death toll is at 113 now, however its slowly rising everyday because its still a rescue operation (I dont expect this to last much longer) so retrieving bodies is really slow. But its mosly from the CBD (central business district) in Christchurch where a lot of buildings are old and they simple crumbled, trapping and killing people. And thats where most of the deaths occurred.

 

@rgangsta: As we have discovered, the magnitude doesn't mean too much without distance and depth of the quake. A 7.1 we had in September was only half as strong as the 6.3 on tuesday. This site im going to show displays the strength and depth and all of the quakes we have had since september. Generally, where I live, we only feel quakes over 4.

 

Check this out: http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz it will take a while to load because there are like 5000 quakes. It will start off showing you the 7.1 followed by all of the aftershocks. Then you should skip ahead in the dropdown box to tuesday the 22nd and see tuesdays quake. No one died in the 7.1.