Strong quake strikes near Christchurch, New Zealand

Hell yeah

Hell yeah

Scared me to death. Around 4 AM Could hardly stand up.
I have no power except a small generator that I am using now. Some of the power poles in my street have fallen down
I took the gyro out at first light to check around the small town I live in.
Does not look to bad in my area from the air but the CBD is trashed.

The sound was frightening. It was like a freight train in my bed room.
The damage to my house is very light but the are buildings just up the road that are badly damaged.
I add more later.
Roy
 
I hope they are Ok too. I have met many people and have many friends from New Zealand. I always remind them that I love every single one of them that I have ever met.

They become very cautious and draw close to whisper something in my ear .... they say there are two or three I might not like in the whole country so be very careful:)

Thoughts and prayers for all our friends in New Zealand.
 
More on earth quake

More on earth quake

Still no power in my street.
Ive been driving around the city tody. It mostly looks untouched except for the roads that are cracked and lumpy. Then you go past a building that is near destroyed. Quite strange..
Im glad I dont own an insurance copmpany about now.
Opps theres another after shock right now.....
Roy
 
Oldsparky lives in one of the worst hit areas. I havn't been able to contact him. I guess he is ok as ther have been no reported fatalities.
 
Arnie Madsen,

Kind thoughts. I have family living near the epicenter.
My step-daughter, age 30, got out of bed and was immediately knocked down to the floor.
She is into karate and does well in competitions...wouldn't be all that easy to knock down.
We appreciate your kinds thoughts and prayers.
Same day and only a couple hundred kilometres away, skydiving plane crashed on takeoff, 9 dead.
A black day in that part of the world.

Gordon Gibson.
 
Bruse. (Old sparky)

Bruse. (Old sparky)

I think Bruse was still on the west coast flying his Gyro. Im not sure he be able to drive back because the passes will have bridges out or rock slides on the roads. Maybe he will fly home over the mountains? I cant get him on his Cell phone.
~R~
 
High winds

High winds

To make matters worse we have extreme high winds in forcast today
 
Recieved this from Keith's wife. Keith was one of the other guys we were flying with on the west coast.

Hi Graeme
just got a call from Bruce. He and Liz have moved out of their house and are
living in the bus. Bruce's house has had substantial damage and had 100 ml
of water through it possibly slumping one corner of it. they are going to
move down to the camp ground in Rangiora so that they are handy to do some
work in their house...lifting carpets etc. Kaiapoi is in a terrible mess and
a lot of the home owners have moved out. Bruce's daughters house has also
taken a king hit and might be stuffed. anyway we have offered him our
assistance, all we can do really. cheers Karyn
 
More

More

I cant get hold of Bruse yet.

This is why I have no power..
 

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Random pics

Random pics

I took these while looking around.
I didnt go near the hard hit areas. There is no need to get in the way of the emergency vehicles etc.
 

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I sure hope everyone affected recovers OK from all the damage. I only spent a couple of days in Christchurch. But I love all your country.
 
Check out stuff.co.nz
It looks like a war zone.
 
Bad news about Bruse

Bad news about Bruse

I managed to catch up with Bruse at his house last night. His place has sunk into the ground about 8 inches and has cracks all over etc. Its a total loss.
At least Liz and Bruse are ok and have the Bus to live in and a heap of friends and relations to back him up.
Roy
 
Hi all,
thanks for the good wishes.
Am sitting in my ruined house atm, power now on but no water or sewer.
We are permitted to enter the house but not live in it.
Water now out of the house, house has subsided about 150m
the quake occurred at 435 am and by the time I found a torch (the power was of with the quake) the worst was over so I went outside to be confronted by large volumes of water bubbling from the ground, so we dressed quickly and got wife ito my bus which was parked up the driveway.
by this time the water was calf deep outside and inside the house and still rising so because we live close to a river and only 4km from the sea I got my 12 ft boat from its jig and ready it for use, then I heard the neighbour calling me, she was home alone, 7 mths pregnant and confused so went and guided her back to the bus. We had to be carefull because it was dark and bits of my sealed driveway were sticking out of the dirty water so we didnt know if we were going to step into a hole or not.
Ithen went over the road where I knew the lady lived alone but found her daughtr with her.
They could not open any doors so as the water was no longer rising and their house was not flooded I told them to stay put and I would come back if anything changed, then checked with a few other people then went back to the bus to await daylight.
What a mess, they say you have to look after yourself for the first couple of days and that proved true. There was no panic that I saw and fortunately no loss of life. A major factor for us was the fact the houses were built on ex swampy or reclaimed land and liquifaction was the reason the houses slumped.
Relative to tradgedies in other parts of the word this is a non event, but I feel the real stress will come with dealing with insurance companies etc,
any way Im operating on bat power atm as the charger power adaptor was drownedso had better quit now,,,Regards
Bruce
 
Hi Bruce & Roy,

Glad to read you and your families are safe. Sorry to read about the damage. Being a native Southern Californian, I've experienced a number of large quakes in my life time and know what you all went through.

I spent time in New Zealand and found your country quite beautiful and you Kiwis are wonderful people. I was always welcomed everywhere I traveled in NZ. I found Christchurch to be a beautiful city.

The past few days, I've been keeping an ear open concerning any emergency service support that might be sent to NZ from the US. I told my wife that I would like to volunteer and help out if there are any emergency services flights going. Unfortunately, here in Southern California there is not much news being told about the damage in Christchurch. I have to read and watch it from the internet. It is very sad because I suspect that since NZ is not a 3rd World Country, the United States is not interested in sending large amounts of emergency service support, aid, or raising money to help.

Still, Kiwis are very resourceful lot, good humored, and will bounce back as strong as ever.

Wayne
 
More on the earth quake

More on the earth quake

I really feel for Bruse and Liz. They have lost their home and most of their furniture, where as I lost a few wine glasses and had no power for a few days. It hardly seems fair.
If the quake had not happened at 4.30 am there would have been hundreds of deaths so we should feel happy about that.
I have spent the last 4 days on roofs taking crumbling chimneys down before they fall into peoples houses. The look on peoples faces when it is done is all the thanks I need.
 
Sue and I traveled through Christchurch two years ago. We enjoyed every minute of our trip, everyone we met went out of their way to make us feel at home. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I believe our fall season is your spring season, is that correct. Warm weather and spring flowers would hopefully lift everyones spirits.
Russ
 
Things will improve

Things will improve

I wish you all the best.

I have found it a real challenge to suddenly have your possessions snatched away.

Keep moving forward one day at a time and things will get better in ways unimagined.

Thank you, Vance
 
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