Marietjie wrote:" NZ-NEWSWe think that this is a very complex event," he said. "We think that the main shock may have consisted actually of three earthquakes." CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's 7.1-magnitude earthquake even ripped apart the earth. A geology professor at Canterbury University says it appears the quake tore a new 11-foot wide fault in the earth's surface. '
For the last few days I read alot about this earthquake! Above is some of the news.
I am happy to give you (some) good news.
My son in law's employer, SOLTIUS, (head office is in Auckland) arranged air tickets for the whole family AND an apartment to stay in Wellington for a few days, week or so until it is safe to get back to ChCh. One of the directors that met them at Wellington Airport even took them to a Supermarket for shopping.
I think of them as ANGELS.
I received an email from our daughter this morning. They are all still VERY scared and nervous.
The water in ChCh is a BIG problem - contaminated - they cannot even wash their hands - must boil water for 3 minutes before use.
Personally, I don't feel happy having them there. And personally, I'll rather stay in RSA and shoot the criminals - you cannot shoot an earthquake ! ! !
LASTLY - dsm - THANKS for the info - I read everything re NZ.
Marietjie,
So pleased the family is being looked after so well. I am pretty confident that Ch-Ch will have this under control fairly quickly. NZ is pretty good at marshaling resources to deal with situations like this. That is reflected in the comments from NZ authorities that they don't feel a need for outside help to be diverted as they can handle it.
As has been widely reported, Ch-Ch is not generally thought of as a major fault area. That release of energy was substantial & based on regular patterns a long time should pass before another such event. The main point to be comforted by is that no one died. Few do these days due to how well NZers cope with them. The Napier Hastings event is very well remembered in NZ because it was the modern nation's worst earthquake disaster. Wellington has largely been rebuilt in the 1980s & 1990s to meet stringent earthquake standards due to it being a recognized fault area. The change in landform from the 1845 Wellington quake is visible every day to anyone using the Wellington to Petone/Lower Hutt motorway as it sits on the land (around the Wellington harbor bay) that rose 4ft out from the harbor in 1845. The next quake there will probably add 6 more lanes to that highway seriously !.
Wellington is a lovely city (even if it gets very windy at times). I would have no hesitation in returning to work there or going back to Christchurch if the opportunity arose (but as of today might be inclined to wait a month or two before going back to Ch-Ch just to let them get the worst of the damage fixed).
Parts on NZ are constantly sliding into rivers or the ocean. It is a well understood and familiar event there. As a kid (early 1950s) I was at school in Glendowie Auckland, we had a period where some school friends houses collapsed due to coastal erosion (i.e. at Karaka Bay between Glendowie and St Helliers). Kraka Bay in particular is slowly being eroded into the sea.
Around the Tamaki waterfront (That is, Tamaki Drive, which runs from Auckland City to the suburb of St Helliers) are some of Auckland's upmarket suburbs. Near Mission bay (2/3rds the way) & St Helliers there are old pill boxes from WW2. When I was there in the early 1950s those pill boxes were recessed into the cliffs. Now most are standing separate from the cliffs they were once hidden in.
5 years ago while driving from Auckland to Wanganui and near the main volcanoes (in the Tongariro National Park) a way out of Wanganui, we drove past points where small bits of the road weren't there - like someone had taken a bite from 1/4 to 1/3 of the tarred roadway (there were just posts around these missing bits with yellow tape on them warning drivers to keep clear). That was after heavy rain & more slips had happened. The missing road there had fallen into the river quite a way below. Unfortunately a few young drivers were lost into those gaps. Older drivers tend to be super cautious in, and just after, heavy rain.
Life in NZ just rolls on & slips & quakes are an understood part of life there. The biggest number of natural disaster casualties are probably from accidents caused by road slips after heavy rain (not from earthquakes) but walking across the road in any NZ city may be more dangerous in terms of potential casualties.
Am sure you will hear lots of good things about their stay in Wellington. But re Ch-Ch, Just remember the nice low casualty rate - 0.
DSM
Some links ...
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/landslides/5
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/landslides/1
This link shows photos from the 1953 landslip I mentioned above, when I was at School in Glendowie just around from St Helliers & Kraka Bay.
Our house was about 1.5 Kms from this landslip. See the 2 pics at the bottom of the page.
http://www.tagasoft.com/TAGAsoft/TAGAso ... araka_html
In this link read the HAZARDS section about driving on NZ roads
http://wikitravel.org/en/Driving_in_New_Zealand
Typical road bulletins re road slips (this may change day to day for anyone linking to it, this link is very recent & covers a wide part of the country)...
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/1248 ... rth-island
D
