Dave
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HWI Admin
Posts: 7,700
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Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2011 16:11:48 GMT
Hello Ross and everyone, News of the new earthquake swarm in Christchurch has been prominent on UK TV and radio today and I'll just mention two of the many reports. New Earthquake Video on BBC websiteInterview on BBC Radio Five Live with Christchurch resident Melissa Heath (6MB, play or download) The radio interview lasts for 6 minutes and gives what seems to be a good insight into the long-term effect all the earthquakes are having on the daily lives of the local residents. Melissa Heath finishes by pointing out that anyone who left their Christmas shopping to the last minute had missed the boat, that made me think of Hayley's tweet today!  I extracted it from the BBC website of the Sheilagh Fogarty show and uploaded it as an .mp3 file. Cheers, Dave |
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Post by grant on Dec 23, 2011 19:20:38 GMT
Thanks Dave
I found the interview quite moving - it's hard to imagine what life must be like for Cantabrians at the moment and for Kiwi's like Hayley who live abroad for much of the time.
I understand that there were more aftershocks overnight and a big one around 6am.
On a lighter note, I gather that Riccarton Mall did open today so maybe Hayley managed to retrieve her abandoned Christmas shopping!
Best wishes
Grant
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Post by Sing on Dec 23, 2011 21:11:49 GMT
Thanks for these Dave- it is quite moving stuff, particularly around this festive time of year!...I really hope things start to settle down now- the quakes/shocks have been going on for such a long time now... On a lighter note, I gather that Riccarton Mall did open today so maybe Hayley managed to retrieve her abandoned Christmas shopping! I hope she did Grant best wishes Sing |
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Jillian
Global Moderator
Posts: 3,050
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Post by Jillian on Dec 23, 2011 22:57:00 GMT
Hi all,
It must be so shocking again -- ruined Christmas trading for business owners, power gone out ruining Christmas food and even more damage again and again.
I think one of the most exhausting things is that it would be all everyone in Christchurch would be talking about. I remember when I was there last month (even when the aftershocks had calmed down) it took me until page 11 of the newspaper before I read anything which wasn't about the earthquake or the Pike River mining disaster.
Does this mean that all the buildings have to be checked again? As in to be certified safe? Will this mean a lot more homeowners and business owners have to wait to be told whether they can re-enter their premises?
Jillian
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Post by martindn on Dec 23, 2011 23:04:52 GMT
Thanks for the interview Dave. It starts to bring home what it must be like to live with these quakes, and the constant threat of more.
There seems to be a new tremor or quake every few minutes at the moment. How do you even get a night's sleep? Yet, it seems there is a brave determination not to be beaten by it. And what an awful think to happen at Christmas.
My heart goes out to the people of Christchurch, and they remain in my prayers.
Martin D
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Post by scoobedoo on Dec 24, 2011 1:35:05 GMT
Hi everyone, well I am luckily still here  I was driving one of our runabout crew cars to go to the changeover point to relieve a driver and start my shift.Everything was fine, travelling in a convoy of traffic two lanes side by side.when the road decided to start (at least thats what it felt like) dancing around all over the place me,a fellow driver and the car AND the traffic either side of us were suddenly all over the place for a few seconds.fortunately we were not travelling all that fast and when it became apparent what was happening everyone stopped.Some traffic lights went out and it slowed everything down to a crawl. We noticed then the street light posts were swinging quite violently with the tremors.Eventually we arrived at our changeover point and the RT started giving out instructions etc ( the normal emergency procedures) and we were able after a while to resume services of sorts. Timetables went down the tubes as everything was running late as, and so we ploughed on to get people home as soon as we could. Fortunately this time there were no injuries as far as the buses were concerned. I did however notice one or two walls fronting onto properties had succumbed to the quake and bricks etc all over the pavements footpaths etc. Hi Jillian the building engineers and inspectors worked through the night to check out suburban shopping malls etc and most of them are all up and running with the exception of two. some supermarkets won't be able to as the mall they are attached to cannot be opened. On a lighter note All the best for the festive season one and all and here's hoping for a much better 2012 we could sure do with it. cheers all, Rodders from a very shaky Christchurch NZ. |
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Post by Richard on Dec 24, 2011 9:19:44 GMT
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Post by gordon on Dec 24, 2011 9:22:52 GMT
Hi Rodders,
Glad to hear that you are ok but in must have been a terrible experience for you at time.Poor old Christchurch, the quakes don't seem to ever stop.
Best Wishes for Christmas and 2012.
Gordon
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Post by Ross on Dec 24, 2011 10:11:51 GMT
 : Not much sleep last night as a quake would hit every hour just when you nod off. My sister arrived yesterday from Wellington and she had just left the airport and was in a taxi when the first one hit. I showed her around Christchurch this evening and tomorrow we head to Ashburton to my parents for Christmas so I will be away for 3 days. Merry Christmas everybody and hopefully a better new year ahead.
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Post by Sing on Jan 1, 2012 17:04:43 GMT
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Post by Libby on Jan 2, 2012 0:14:45 GMT
There was one off the coast of Japan not long before. A 7.0 I think.  |
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Post by Ross on Jan 16, 2012 22:14:40 GMT
Here are some interesting statistics that were in the Christchurch Press today.
500 days since the September quake.
9500 quakes and counting
Of which 3000 are above 3 on the Richter scale.
That works out at one every 4 hours that we could feel.
Over 400,0000 earthquake claims on damage
6500 homes to be abandoned with 3000 more houses to be assessed.
892 buildings so far demolished.
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Post by martindn on Jan 16, 2012 23:06:12 GMT
These guys have my admiration. I can't imagine what it must be like to live with that!
Martin D
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Post by scoobedoo on Jan 17, 2012 8:47:47 GMT
These guys have my admiration. I can't imagine what it must be like to live with that! Martin D Martin D, me o'l mate it 'aint easy believe it. You don't know when the next one is coming and from which direction.You try to put it all behind you but it is in the back of your mind 24/7. As the saying goes "You pick yourself up you dust yourself down and start all over again" I think this maybe words from a song but I can't think of the name of it.. for a lot of folks here it is exactly that start all over again with liquefaction problems,power outage water problems, etc etc etc the list goes on.In the eastern districts they have once again been hit yet again the worst Here in the South-West where I am overall, we are lucky. All we can do is basically is "Soldier On" and take each day as it comes,and as far as my job in the passenger transport industry goes.Do the best we can to provide a service restricted though in many ways as best we can. cheers all, Rodders |
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Post by Richard on Jan 17, 2012 8:59:19 GMT
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I extracted it from the BBC website of the Sheilagh Fogarty show and uploaded it as an .mp3 file.
I was driving one of our runabout crew cars to go to the changeover point to relieve a driver and start my shift.Everything was fine, travelling in a convoy of traffic two lanes side by side.when the road decided to start (at least thats what it felt like) dancing around all over the place me,a fellow driver and the car AND the traffic either side of us were suddenly all over the place for a few seconds.fortunately we were not travelling all that fast and when it became apparent what was happening everyone stopped.Some traffic lights went out and it slowed everything down to a crawl. We noticed then the street light posts were swinging quite violently with the tremors.Eventually we arrived at our changeover point and the RT started giving out instructions etc ( the normal emergency procedures) and we were able after a while to resume services of sorts. Timetables went down the tubes as everything was running late as, and so we ploughed on to get people home as soon as we could.
I hope everyone's ok...and things settle down soon
