Christchurch NZ Earthquake

[Ross]

Today at 7.50am we had a nasty aftershock which was only 5.1 but being centred near Lyttleton and very shallow it felt much stronger in Christchurch. This one had vertical movement as opposed to the ones centered near Darfield which are horizontal. So a lot more damage has occurred. The state of emergency has been increased for another week. The Lyttleton Road Tunnel was closed for a while to check for damage. Schools will probably stay closed until next week. I think we are starting to get sick of these aftershocks. Hopefully they will soon stop.

[Ross]

Here is an interesting website done by a student which shows a map of Canterbury and shows all of the earthquakes which have hit us over the last few days. It shows how many there have been.

www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/

[Ross]

Last night was the first time I had a good sleep as there were no big aftershocks. So hopefully this is a sign things are settling down.
The CBD will be open to the public tomorrow but there will be a lot of shops etc not being able to open. Today was also the first time we do not have to boil our drinking water.
Thanks to everyone thinking of us here in Christchurch it is much appreciated.

[Libby]

No big ones? But there still were some? What day was the earthquake again? It's been going on for days!

[martindn]

Hi Ross,

There seem to have been hundreds of aftershocks. Let's hope it all settles back to normal soon, and you folk can start thinking about repairing the damage. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Martin D

[Ross]

Hi Libby we still get lots of little aftershocks that mostly we do not feel them. The bigger ones make my TV shake like last night at 6:38pm. Since last Saturday when the big one hit at 4:38am we have had 397 earthquakes of varying intensity. If you put them all together the shaking would last for 2 hours 50 minutes. But we are getting a lot less shakes now and generally less strong as well.

[tracy]

Sept 10, 2010 4:31:39 GMT Ross said:

Hi Libby we still get lots of little aftershocks that mostly we do not feel them. The bigger ones make my TV shake like last night at 6:38pm. Since last Saturday when the big one hit at 4:38am we have had 397 earthquakes of varying intensity. If you put them all together the shaking would last for 2 hours 50 minutes. But we are getting a lot less shakes now and generally less strong as well.

I have to comment here how amazing it is that no one was badly hurt during the earth quakes, so unreal but so lucky, we have a canyon about 2 hours ride from home we call the rumbling valley , thats our name for it, and when I'm droving stock through there because of the acoustics of the canyon the slightest sound echoes for ages so I can imagine how frightening an earth quake must be, hope it all ends soon and good old mother earth settles down.
Much love Tracy

[Ross]

Here are some letters which were posted from important people around the world supporting us in Canterbury including one very important lady i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif





Also the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is going to put on a free concert in the Town Hall on Thursday. One song they are playing is Veni Veni Emanuel so hopefully I will get a ticket for this.

Also next Saturday the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Christchurch Choir are going to play Gloria and Te Deum so that will be fun too. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

[Ross]

NZSO Christchurch Town Hall Sept 16th

Tonight the NZSO put on a free concert for the Christchurch people in the Town Hall which you will be pleased to know wasn't damaged by the earthquakes. It was a full house with lots of children present as well.

This was a planned concert which they decided to carry on playing but made it free with donations going to the Red Cross. Unfortunately other concerts by the Christchurch Symphony have been cancelled.
Our mayor Bob Parker took time out of his busy schedule to thank the NZSO for the free concert and told us to enjoy it.

The NZSO had a British conductor Alexander Shelly who did an excellent job. The orchestra were excellent as well.

They opened with Maurice Ravel Pavane Pour Une Infante Defaunte (Pavane for a dead Princess). Now you all should be familiar with this music as it is the same song that Hayley plays in the album Pure called Never Say Goodbye. It was very beautiful and all it needed was our Hayley to appear and start singing. Oh well we cannot have everything lol.

Then to complete the first half the NZSO played Richard Strauss Death and Transfiguration Op. 24 which was another amazing piece of music.

After the interval they played Benjamin Britten Four Sea Interludes Op. 33a.

Then for the finale the world renowned percussionist Colin Currie was the soloist percussionist who performed with the NZSO the James MacMillan Veni Veni Emmanuel. Colin was absolutely amazing playing a number of different percussion instruments.

Of course Colin and the NZSO received a standing ovation from the enthusiastic crowd.

PS we are still getting aftershocks but not as often now. I think the number is now about 490. Last night we had two that woke us up at 10:40pm and 3:30am. I took a walk around the CBD last Monday and most of the buildings are undamaged and open for business. It is just a lot of the older brick buildings and churches etc which were damaged.

[Ross]

It has now been 3 weeks since the big earthquake in Christchurch. Since then we have had just over 1000 aftershocks (over 700 in the first week) and as you will see later in my report there are still aftershocks happening.

We have been very lucky with the weather since the quake as it has been mainly fine spring weather.
Today was no different and the Canterbury Rugby Union made today's rugby game against Wellington free to the public so a full house of about 36000 turned up for a entertaining game which Canterbury won.

Then later in the evening I went to a free concert (with donations to the quake fund) put on by the CBS Choir and Orchestra in the Music Centre. The Maurice Till Hall is the converted Convent chapel next to the Catholic Cathedral which is closed because of quake damage.

I arrived for the 8pm concert at 7:15pm. While I was waiting in the Hall a 3.2 quake hit us at 7:23pm which most of us joked about. But at 7:46pm a 3.6 one hit and most of us started to get a bit nervous but still it was only a little shake.
At 7:58pm just before the choir arrived on stage a 4.1 hit only 5km from Christchurch and it shook the old masonry building and we really got nervous then but the musical director, Don Whelan, said we are perfectly safe. Don started talking about tonights concert while the choir arrived on stage when suddenly at 8:01pm another 4 quake hit again only 5km away and this time one of the stage lights started shaking and some plaster from a crack in the ceiling fell like snow. This was too much for some in the audience and they left and one of the lady choir members left too. The rest of us stayed and luckily that was all the shocks so far tonight.

The choir and orchestra did a splendid job despite the obvious tension from the quakes.

The choir opened with Gabrielli Jubilate Deo.

Then the orchestra arrived on stage and they all did Monteverdi Beatus Vir.

Then one of my favourites was Vivaldi Gloria.

After the interval when everyone was talking about the quakes they finished with Hadyn Nelson Mass which I really enjoyed.

[scoobedoo]

Hi Ross & everyone,sounds as though it was a nice concert under the circumstances. I was only a short distance away at the intersection Aldwins road Ensours Ferry Road. I was driving the bus and waiting at the lights when that aftershock struck at 7.58pm, it rocked the bus a bit but it soon quietened the noisy students I had on board. They were very subdued after that. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Never mind, Daylight saving starts for us here in NZ tomorrow Sunday Sept 26th signalling Summer (hopefully) is just ahead of us and regrettably the end of your daylight saving in the UK sometime soon isn't it? Here is hoping the aftershocks go away I have had enough,

looking forward to summer

cheers all,

Rodders.

[Richard]

Hello Rodders!

British Summer Time ends on Sunday 31st October, so for the next five weeks New Zealand will be twelve hours ahead of the UK.

It's a good job you were waiting at the traffic lights when the aftershock struck, or the students might have blamed your driving!

Best wishes,

Richard

[stevemacdonald]

Another quake today!:

Strong quake rattles southern New Zealand
Power and phone service disrupted

msnbc.com news services
updated 2 hours 19 minutes ago

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A strong earthquake hit the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, cutting power and phone services and sending some residents running into the streets just weeks after a more powerful quake caused extensive damage.
New Zealand's geological agency GNS Science said Tuesday's magnitude 5 quake was centered six miles (10 kilometers) southwest of the city and just five miles (nine kilometers) below the surface.
Civil Defense Communications Manager Vince Cholewa told the New Zealand Herald the earthquake would have been felt on the ground as a magnitude 7 quake.
There were widespread evacuations from businesses in city's downtown, the Herald reported.
Officials and news reports said phone and power services to some parts of the city were down, and some residents fled into the streets as buildings shook and objects tumbled from shelves when the quake hit about 11:30 a.m. (2230 GMT Monday).
The temblor was one of many aftershocks that hit the city after a magnitude-7 quake on Sept. 4.

[Libby]

Oh no! I hope nothing happens when she's at home with her family. It's bad enough now that stuff will be damaged when she goes.
One article I read was calling it an aftershock. How could it be an after shock after more than a month?

[Ross]

Oct 19, 2010 0:14:18 GMT Libby said:

Oh no! I hope nothing happens when she's at home with her family. It's bad enough now that stuff will be damaged when she goes.
One article I read was calling it an aftershock. How could it be an after shock after more than a month?

Yes today's aftershock was 5 on the Richter Scale but it felt like the strongest since the main quake because it was so close and shallow.
It is still classed as an aftershock as it was one of many since the big one. We had another 5 or so today already. It could be another month before it returns to normal.