Quick post to say there was a major quake in Christchurch around 12h50 today. For family and friends following this blog, both Ashley and Linda are at Christchurch Hospital and are both ok. Linda’s surgery was due to commence at 12h30 today but was fortunately running behind schedule so she was safely evacuated and Ashley is with her.
The scenes on the TV news are pretty horrific, lots of major structural damage during office hours and consequently there are lots of confirmed fatalities and serious injuries. The city is totally gridlocked with lots of infrastructure damage to utilities such as electricity, water supply, phone networks, etc. There is major road damage and flooding, which may get worse in the hours and days to come. We have felt the aftershocks here on the West Coast.
There is obviously a risk of further serious aftershocks and additional damage. Ashley may try to drive Linda back to Greymouth Hospital, pending information and co-ordination from the hospital. The 111 emergency number is currently not working in Christchurch.
Our own plans to visit Christchurch from Thursday to Saturday are obviously on hold pending further developments.
I’ll update this blog if there is anything to add, but in the meantime our thoughts and prayers are with Ashley and Linda plus the many affected people in Christchurch, not least the emergency services and the brave members of the public who are helping out.
16h00 – Update: Received SMS from Ashley saying that he and Linda have been advised to remain in the hospital’s family accommodation unit for now. According to TV news, the Christchurch Hospital is once again “open & operating”.
16h40 – Update: TV news is reporting that international search & rescue groups are on the way. Also just coming in is that the Christchurch suburbs of New Brighton and Lyttelton are “unlivable”. The landmark Christchurch cathedral is severely damaged and has apparently lost it’s spire. There have been several aftershocks this afternoon. Some sites are reporting that the quake at lunch time was something new, i.e. not one of the thousands of aftershocks since the big 7.1 quake in September, which was at a depth of 33km. Today’s quake was at a depth of only 5km hence the major damage today. Obviously this has serious long-term implications for Christchurch in terms of rebuilding the city and implementing improved emergency processes.
It’s pretty tough not having direct communications with Ashley and Linda: the phone networks are currently overloaded and patchy at best, not helped by near-zero mobile reception where I am. Many worried people trying to get in touch with their loved ones.
The New Zealand Herald news website has an up-to-the-minute report going: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10707997
17h04 – Update: some news coming in from further afield: eye-witness reports from Rapaki (between Lyttelton and Governors Bay) suggest that boulders as large as houses have been coming down the mountain, flattening houses, cars, etc. An early report from near Mount Aoraki (Mount Cook) is that there has been an ice-carve of some 30 million tons.
19h00 – Update: Ashley & Linda have managed to get safely out of Christchurch and are currently en route back to Greymouth. Traffic is very heavy with a mass exodus of people from the city; roads outside the city are also showing signs of quake damage; liquefaction is also a very real concern. Christchurch International Airport is closed until further notice for international flights but domestic flights have now resumed. For my old work colleagues, SWD is ok. He’s currently in Singapore due to fly tonight to somewhere in NZ via Sydney. Half of Christchurch is without power tonight and gas mains have been turned off to prevent an outbreak of fires.
Some links with practical information for people in Christchurch, or for those concerned about loved ones in Christchurch:
Environmental: http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/
Roads: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/current-conditions/highway-info/road/8373/south-island.html
Airport: http://twitter.com/CHC_Airport
Christchurch Hospital: http://www.cdhb.govt.nz/chc/
Google Person Finder (Christchurch): http://christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com/
Civil Defence: http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/
20h45 – Update: Many thanks to all who’ve contacted us out of concern. We’re ok and from a selfish point of view, my parents are safely on their way home. However a lot of folks in Christchurch have not been so lucky and tonight are either sleeping rough or are still waiting anxiously for news of loved ones who are still not accounted for, or are mourning for the many who died. Our prayers and thoughts are with them all at this difficult time.
As an example of how confusing the news is at the moment, Christchurch International Airport has not in fact resumed domestic flights yet. They are allowing emergency flights only. It looks like they are reopening at 8:00am tomorrow morning now, but I guess that could change again.
21h50 – Update: Greg’s mom just phoned from the car, they are half an hour from Greymouth thank goodness. Greg is down at the hospital waiting for them to get there.
00h39 – Update: Ashley & Linda are now back at home via a short visit to the local A&E. The local hospital are keeping as many beds free as possible to deal with fall-out from Christchurch so they’ve sent Linda home with a healthy dose of pain meds. The situation will be reviewed tomorrow. Web, radio, TV etc are all continuing to report on the scale and impact of the quake. It’s becoming clear that this is going to be a very costly disaster in every sense. Thanks again to the many good people who’ve been calling, emailing, texting, getting in touch via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I’ll end the updates here. Any further developments will be a new blog post. As a postscript to the 17h04 update about Mt Aoraki, this news article makes for an interesting read: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708071
Hi Guys,
So glad you are all well and your mum and dad, Greg. I am looking at the news and it looks really bad so it is a miracle that your mum was not in the theatre at the time it struck.
As usual, in life, it seems that it does not rain, it pours. Keep the spirit up and I am sure it will all work for you at the end with your NZ adventure.
Leanne and I will send a longer message tonight on facebook.
Steph
Hi Greg and Sarah
We woke up this morning to this terrible news and sent an email to Ashley and Linda – we did not have your contact details. Carey has just sent them to me. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all in NZ. We are so thankful the family are all OK. Thanks for the regular update – love to you all.
Ginny
Hi Greg and Sarah,
We woke up to this really terrible news of the earthquake. We immediately sent an email to Ashley and Linda (did not have your contact details). Carey sent me your details. Thanks so much for the regular update. We are so thankful the family are all OK. Guardian Angels are with your folks for sure. Hopefully they have arrived back fine. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the people of NZ at this difficult time. Thanks for the regular update and love to you all.
Ginny