In theory the quake was not as bad as the one we had in September last year that measured 7.1: this was 6.3. But everyone agrees the new one was worse. Buildings in the city centre, including our namesake cathedral, have been severely damaged and of course all but emergency traffic is forbidden there.
Tragic stories are emerging of people trapped, saved, and then injured again. Moreover, the aftershocks continue: like the others it shook the house like a toy. Cracks are appearing, books are all over the place, and of course a good deal of crockery has gone. But all in all we personally have been very lucky to have such minimal damage, both this time and the last.
The emergency services are acting magnificently. Our power was restored in about five hours and superloos are being installed where the water has gone or there is a danger of sewage infection. In both connections we have been very fortunate. Several suburbs had still not recovered from the September quake and its aftershocks. Our paper, the Press, has its editorial offices in the heart of the damaged city but it produced an emergency issue this morning. One of the worst-hit buildings was the Christchurch office of TVNZ, but the reporters did their job splendidly. (That, it must be said, is hearsay: Sky television, on which we rely, has been off since the start. We should revert to terrestrial!)
