Christchurch Earthquakes

[Lizard]

Just woke up and thought I'd check where the earthquake was we felt here last night and immediately realised it wasn't the usual:

http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html

I see 7.4 at 4:35am and a whole lot of 4-pointers since then... hope our Christchurch team are faring okay.

Any reports?

[belgarion]

Anyone? You guys all right?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4094986/Massive-7-4-quake-hits-South-Island

[Lizard]

Perhaps best photos found here:

http://yfrog.com/bgxkqkj

[RRR]

It was a scary experience for us. I felt the shock and took kids and wife outside and stayed out for 1 hour. Lasted for good 1 min. No damage to our house luckily, but neighbors chimney collapsed. Never felt so vulnerable before. Still getting after shocks.

[Kees]

still got power water etc in islington no damage except some pot plants falling over i experienced the one in 68 inagahua but this was a lot bigger and it is still going . tv 1 are shockers with their reporting ramp ramp b/s
the after shocks are more scary they seem to drop the house down instead of a rolling motion.

[Ponda]

My thoughts are with you RRR and Kees and others. Best wishes and I hope that you and your family and friends are doing ok.
Interesting what you say Kees about TV1 reporting. I have felt that they are not giving anything away, sure, it is very early in the piece, but I haven't heard that the aftershocks were so large.
If there is a silver lining, it's that it occured on a Saturday and not a trading day.
Take care.

[winner69]

My thoughts are with you RRR and Kees and others. Best wishes and I hope that you and your family and friends are doing ok.
Interesting what you say Kees about TV1 reporting. I have felt that they are not giving anything away, sure, it is very early in the piece, but I haven't heard that the aftershocks were so large.
If there is a silver lining, it's that it occured on a Saturday and not a trading day.
Take care.

Sky News from OZ Channel 90 has had better coverage ... makes you wonder eh

[winner69]

Aftershocks of 5.3 / 4.8 / 4.8 / 4.9 / 4.6 / 3.9 / 4.3 / 4.3 / 4.7 /4.6 / 4.0 / 5.0 / 4.7 wouldn't be pleasant

http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html

Take care guys

[barney]

Horrendously scary experience. I was crouched under the door jamb waiting for the house to come down. Literally. Had trouble standing up and and it was total darkness.

11.am and just had another after shock.

The good thing is it happened at 4.30am. If it had of happened at midday on a work day there would be loss of life. We have been very lucky.

[Stumpynuts]

See what happens when South Canterbury Finance goes into recievership?

[Lizard]

Yep, first South Canterbury collapses... then Central Canterbury collapses... watch out North Canterbury!

Sorry, not really a thread for humour. Hope we hear from Percy, Serpie, Shrewd and others soon and that no-one suffered too much damage.

I imagine there will be ongoing frustrations to live through in Christchurch for days/weeks/months.

[h2so4]

Yep, first South Canterbury collapses... then Central Canterbury collapses... watch out North Canterbury!

Sorry, not really a thread for humour. Hope we hear from Percy, Serpie, Shrewd and others soon and that no-one suffered too much damage.

I imagine there will be ongoing frustrations to live through in Christchurch for days/weeks/months.

And Snoopy, don't forget Snoopy.:)

[Financially dependant]

Yes it was a scary experience, we got the power back on about an hour ago....which means water as well in these flat lands. West Chch not as badly effected as East, I went for a walk around the neighbourhood and people are actually talking to each other!
The local brickies are going to be busy for a while...

[Gofish.]

Yep, we've just got power back on. Those serious aftershocks have got us all rattled in every sense.
We're lucky with minor breakages, others not so fortunate.

[Lawso]

Sincere condolences to all Cantabs. But there is a bright side, if you're an FBU or STU shareholder.

[STRAT]

Thinkin of all my mates on the Mainland. Hope you are all ok

[Financially dependant]

Sincere condolences to all Cantabs. But there is a bright side, if you're an FBU or STU shareholder.

I was thinking the same thing, a lot of building were about to be laid off after the completion of some major projects in the CBD.....now there are lots more to do.

With the SCF & now EQC pumping billions into Canterbury over the next few months some people are going to come up smelling of roses.

But in saying that I hope everyone is OK first?

[QOH]

Thinking of all you Cantabs, hope those aftershocks don't last too long. If anyone wants to escape, a few spare beds here.

[fungus pudding]

I was thinking the same thing, a lot of building were about to be laid off after the completion of some major projects in the CBD.....now there are lots more to do.

With the SCF & now EQC pumping billions into Canterbury over the next few months some people are going to come up smelling of roses.

But in saying that I hope everyone is OK first?

I wonder what % of SCF deposits came from Canterbury. Certainly a lot of shareholders did, so there will be some big losses, but all I know about deposits is that a fair chunk came from overseas. That money could be widely spread.

[trackers]

Cheers all, what a day!! Amazing that we lived through an earthquake worse than Haiti but instead of 230,000 people dying we've just got a few holes in the ground and some ruined houses... Pretty thankful for that.

And in answer to my mates big question today, yes SBW is alive and well you can all stop worrying :)

[percy]

Thank you sharetraders for your concern and best wishes,I think Fred Dagg summed it up with his saying "you don't know how lucky you are Treve".I live in a new house in the older area of Spreydon and most damage in this area has been with chimneys falling downIt felt to me like being in a container with two elephants having a fight.We have had power and water all day but water pressure is very low.Our concern has been getting petrol,bread and getting hot food to my 87year old mother in law and her not very well son,and they were without power or water to about lunch time.This afternoon I have been helping another brother-in-law take down the damaged chimney and make the old girl's house water tight until builders can make repairs.With strong winds expected tomorrow I wonder if our repairs will hold.Our hot water is gas,but we have turned it off incase there are after shocks tonight.The roads have bubbles in them and I think we will see a lot of broken water and sewerage pipes.One of my daughters in Sydenham had no power and water so she took the family to macDonalds at 7am and had a 20minute wait at the drive through.The local Freshchoice at Barringtons openned at lunch time.It is a bit hard to know what is really going on as you are busy safeguarding your family.It was a beautiful day in ChCh.Watching the news you can understand it is going to be a big and long job to rebuild.How thousands were not killed we will never know.Would you believe we are having another aftershock!!!!

[minimoke]

As I catch up on emails perhaps I could just suggest to those more worried about the money aspects of todays events to **** off for a while. There are thousands of family's tonight with no chimneys and big holes in their roofs and loads of personal possessions lost. Every aftershock has people worried its going to cause more damage - because it is. You guys will get to sleep tonight - there are many here that won't.

[percy]

Would you believe we have just had yet another aftershock !!!! I trust you are OK minimoke.To other Canterbury posters I wish you well.
And yet another.!!!

[Lizard]

Would you believe we have just had yet another aftershock !!!!

Latest count is 28 aftershocks on geonet, most of which are 4 or 5 pointers... and they are running a few minutes behind, so haven't yet picked up the one you mention, percy.

Glad to hear from posters that are doing okay. Hope you are all able to get some sleep tonight.

[Major von Tempsky]

Was very lucky - china cabinet landed on a cushioned stool next to it and nothing broken, TV fell down on soft carpet and still works, 1 sherry decanter broken and 1 toby jug bit the dust.

I note that Chch and surrounding area is now 5 metres further north and a bit higher so that's a bit warmer.

Naturally it's all George Bush's fault and global warming. That dratted Bush again.

[percy]

Was very lucky - china cabinet landed on a cushioned stool next to it and nothing broken, TV fell down on soft carpet and still works, 1 sherry decanter broken and 1 toby jug bit the dust.

I note that Chch and surrounding area is now 5 metres further north and a bit higher so that's a bit warmer.

Naturally it's all George Bush's fault and global warming. That dratted Bush again.

Wonderful news you are well.Hope you will treat us with a cracker on The Spectacled Flowerpecker thread.Kees"s latest is pretty good.

[Hoop]

Was very lucky - china cabinet landed on a cushioned stool next to it and nothing broken, TV fell down on soft carpet and still works, 1 sherry decanter broken and 1 toby jug bit the dust.

I note that Chch and surrounding area is now 5 metres further north and a bit higher so that's a bit warmer.

Naturally it's all George Bush's fault and global warming. That dratted Bush again.

:):)
MVT I suggest that since you are closer to Auckland now you should get cheaper travel prices.;)

Seriously....I wish all you guys the very best..Its been the main topic of conversation here today in Hamilton..

Personally.. I have the GeoNet window minimised on my computer screen and checking (refreshing) it every so often ...the site says last shock at 7.03pm. Gosh 4 in the last 1/2 hr up to 7.03pm.

Hoping you guys are able to get a good nights sleep.
My thoughts are with you.
Cheers
Hoop

[ratkin]

We need more of these quakes. My neighbours in somerfield actually speaking to each other today!!
Although in town early this morning there were plenty of idiots about. I saw one mulleted moron being arrested because he ignored repeated police calls for him not to go through a tapped off area .
Have to confess though that i was only there rubbernecking myself :). Way i look at it though is its the only interesting thing thats happened in this city for years so would be a shame not to have a good look around

[shasta]

We need more of these quakes. My neighbours in somerfield actually speaking to each other today!!
Although in town early this morning there were plenty of idiots about. I saw one mulleted moron being arrested because he ignored repeated police calls for him not to go through a tapped off area .
Have to confess though that i was only there rubbernecking myself :). Way i look at it though is its the only interesting thing thats happened in this city for years so would be a shame not to have a good look around

Wow 7.1 & Canterbury cops it.

Lucky it's largely flat & spread out, a similiar quake in Wellington would have fatalies & more damage.

Interesting that this quake may have been on a new fault line, no big aftershocks yet thankfully

[Serpie]

What a day.
Our house was undamaged even though it felt like a train smashed it's way from one end to the other.
My parents house was in one of the worst hit areas, and although their house is ok it looks as though their garage, and the neighbouring houses on 3 sides are candidates for bulldozing.

Plenty of silver linings though. My boys were magnificent today. They were all on deck from first light, and out on the road putting things back together. I take my hat off to all those involved in getting our city back on it's feet today: all of those that worked hard to make things safe, and restore essential services. Water, drainage, power, comms, roading, emergency services - the lot. All awesome.

[minimoke]

Hopefully all the cantabs got some sleep last night and your families ad friends are safe and well. Our day started as if a plane or train was coming straight for the house. I had to collect my son from the middle of his room as the floor was pitching so much he wasn't making any progress. Under the door frame, family safe it sounded like the house was falling down, windows breaking masonry smashing. The rolling stopped and peace came to find every drawer in the house was opened. But no mess inside. 5.00am the lights went out so went to check the neighbors - some were in shock (back to my place for the Earthquake Emergency supplies - nothing like a gin and orange before sunrise) while others were lucid enough to survey the mess in their own homes. Sunrise came so time to survey the damage - the only thing I lost was the water in my toilet bowls - it had all slopped over the side the side onto the floor. The morning was spent cleaning up the inside of a couple of houses where there had been loads of broken glass thrown off shelves. The afternoon clearing up bricks and patching holes in roofs. Power and water back on late afternoon - a bit surreal really as it was such a beautiful day. Woke this morning to more aftershocks so a good time to get online and fill in the EQC forms. Off later to clean now there is power for the vacuum and hot water.

[ratkin]

Does the media really have to conduct every interview standing in front of a pile of rubble? Its putting a very unrealistic view of this earthquake.
I was in the cbd yesterday morning , after a tour of the rubble enjoyed a nice cup of coffee in cathedral square , no sign of damage anywhere, and plenty of tourists enjoying the sunny day

Im supprised they havent gone the whole way and placed soft toys on the rubble.

Big thing for today is going to be the wind , its just kicking off now and could hit 130kph. Looking out at the neighbours chimney , i dont fancy its chances of surviving day

[Skol]

I read an article the other day that says in the event of an earthquake dont get under desks or doorframes.
It recommends you lie down beside the desk, bed or other sturdy object, not under them.

[ratkin]

Personally i think it depends on where you live and how fast and agile you are!

For example if you live in a street with high buidings (like in the cbd) you would be crazy to run outside due to the high risk of falling masonary.

However if you live in a suburban bungalow with no chimney and a big garden i reckon making a run for it is not a bad idea. Your unlikely to suffer damage once outside , and if the house does cave in do you really want to be trapped under a table/bed/doorjamb.
If the ceiling is already starting to collapse then hide , otherwise leg it.

As for curling up on the floor , do you really want to take away your agility and ability to dodge out of trouble?

Best defence seems to be not living in an old character home made of bricks ,that has a big chimney on top, and is situated on old marshland near a river

[skeet]

Bunch of photos up here from yesterday: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209190&id=727125963&l=7e94e21a88

Only slept about 2 hours last night, brother called me in for a job playing security to watch over a house that is on the verge of collapse to stop anyone from going in, as house is very unstable and will be demolished anyway but they are needing to get ppl into it to secure a few items first before they hope this happens.

[Major von Tempsky]

Approaches constabule and civil defence personnel zealously guarding Durham St entrance to Gloucester St going to wards the city, no damage in sight.

"Excuse me Constable, I wish to visit a friend who is a resident further down Gloucester St".
"Sorry sir, you can't".
"But her apartment building has been cleared as safe, she's living there and she asked me to visit her".
"Sorry Sir, no one is allowed in".
"Could you tell me when will it change and how will I know?"
"Well it was supposed to change at 1pm 2 hours ago but it hasn't. You will know when the police car has gone".
Thanks Constable.

Major mounts bicycle and cycles off down to Cranmer Square noting guards at Armagh St, Chester St West and Kilmore St. Hmmm, I know, I used to take a short cut to work through Ernst Young Building grounds (a nice modern building with no earthquake damage) and Canty Reg Council Building (ditto). No guards, cordons, tapes etc in sight. Emerges into Chester St West behind enemy lines and outside hailing distance from enemy picket guard. Cycles down to Montreal St, right and right again into Gloucester St. Its amazing once you are inside the cordon no-one takes a blind bit of interest in you, they assume you are a resident. Mouths silent raspberry at policeman in far distance, keys in security code and enters apartment building. Knocks on door - "Hugh! What a surprise! they're keeping everyone out including office workers and temporary residents!" How did you get in?" "Ah my dear, my Boer War experience was invaluable there...."

[percy]

Approaches constabule and civil defence personnel zealously guarding Durham St entrance to Gloucester St going to wards the city, no damage in sight.

"Excuse me Constable, I wish to visit a friend who is a resident further down Gloucester St".
"Sorry sir, you can't".
"But her apartment building has been cleared as safe, she's living there and she asked me to visit her".
"Sorry Sir, no one is allowed in".
"Could you tell me when will it change and how will I know?"
"Well it was supposed to change at 1pm 2 hours ago but it hasn't. You will know when the police car has gone".
Thanks Constable.

Major mounts bicycle and cycles off down to Cranmer Square noting guards at Armagh St, Chester St West and Kilmore St. Hmmm, I know, I used to take a short cut to work through Ernst Young Building grounds (a nice modern building with no earthquake damage) and Canty Reg Council Building (ditto). No guards, cordons, tapes etc in sight. Emerges into Chester St West behind enemy lines and outside hailing distance from enemy picket guard. Cycles down to Montreal St, right and right again into Gloucester St. Its amazing once you are inside the cordon no-one takes a blind bit of interest in you, they assume you are a resident. Mouths silent raspberry at policeman in far distance, keys in security code and enters apartment building. Knocks on door - "Hugh! What a surprise! they're keeping everyone out including office workers and temporary residents!" How did you get in?" "Ah my dear, my Boer War experience was invaluable there...."

Well done !!!

[ratkin]

All because the lady likes milk tray?

[brettdale]

The earthquake was extremely violent, I mean really really violent, i was in bed at 430am, and it woke me up, at the start of it, it just sounded like a wee one that would stop, but then all of a sudden, it was massively loud and shooked the house so much, i mean you had to go through it to believe it, I tried to walk to the door way, but i couldnt make it, because the house was shaking so much, finally I made it, (once the violent part of it stopped), but it keep going and going and going, when it finally stopped, I knew this wasnt a little one and there would be serious damage to the city.

The streets are a mess.

Hats off to the council though and civil defense people, power, water and such are back on. Neighbiours were helping neighbours, the only two negative ascepts of human behavior were the two looters and the guy selling bopttle water for ten bucks on the street corner. Other than that people were great.

[Shrewd Crude]

I read an article the other day that says in the event of an earthquake dont get under desks or doorframes.
It recommends you lie down beside the desk, bed or other sturdy object, not under them.

hey all...
thanks for all your well wishes...
nah skol,
the safest way to tackle an earthquake is to ride it like a wave...
keep balanced and on your feet...
woke me up something chronic eah...
I was more like a drunking surfer...
half asleep and banging into walls...
thought it was a really bad dream...
it was nuts...
:cool:
.^sc

[trackers]

Bunch of photos up here from yesterday: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209190&id=727125963&l=7e94e21a88

Only slept about 2 hours last night, brother called me in for a job playing security to watch over a house that is on the verge of collapse to stop anyone from going in, as house is very unstable and will be demolished anyway but they are needing to get ppl into it to secure a few items first before they hope this happens.

Pretty crazy photos Skeet, still amazed (but extremely glad) everyone is ok.

[STRAT]

"Ah my dear, my Boer War experience was invaluable there...."Wow Major, you are a spritely chap for a man of your age :p

[minimoke]

There goes another one. I'll be bloody glad when these aftershocks stop!

[dartMonkey]

Glad to hear everyone's ok ... SC
Mrs was down there for a week ...
While the oldest boy who lives in Chch was back up here for a week ... tin ar$e
Mother in Law had a heart op (I'm not gonna say the obvious) in Chch on the Tuesday before and only got out of ICU Thurs.
She was still in hospital and thought everyone would've been crushed so her heart went funny again ...

All I can say is I heard what the Mrs had to say and the tone in her voice and she completely broke down when she got back yesterday (scheduled to fly out 9.40 Saturday morning). She really thought she was going to die. No doubt it was a mortally terrifying experience for you all that few of us
can understand.
.

[ratkin]

Aftershocks seemed to gather in strength during the night. thought they were supposed to grow less intense not more. Had to make a run for it twice during the night. Starting to be very tiring

[Major von Tempsky]

There's a reason for the aftershocks being more intense not less - according to today's Press aftershocks are at just a depth of 4km compared to 10kms for the main earthquake. And they're a bit closer than Rolleston which is a lot closer than Darfield.
I agree last nights quakes of 5.2, 5.4, 5.4 were real beauties and we dived out of bed and made a rush for the doorway for each one.

There's a sort of battle fatigue setting in with Chch people, everyone's nerves are really shot, everyone without saying it is thinking maybe we should move to Blenheim or Nelson for a few days/weeks until these wretched aftershocks are over. Every little shock you cower and rush for a doorway even though in itself its quite tiny and apart from the shocks, a door banging, something falling over and you are halfway through your conditioned reflex reaction before you realise it. Its a relief to get out for a walk as you don't notice the shocks so much.

[craic]

Three years ago when the Gisborne earthquake struck I was all alone in a private hospital room following a prostate restructuring op. I had tubes in and out of my pecker. Living in Napier, I am not unduly worried by shakes but that caused me a few anxious moments. Had it been serious, would I have ended up with an Art Deco penis?

[fungus pudding]

Three years ago when the Gisborne earthquake struck I was all alone in a private hospital room following a prostate restructuring op. I had tubes in and out of my pecker. Living in Napier, I am not unduly worried by shakes but that caused me a few anxious moments. Had it been serious, would I have ended up with an Art Deco penis?

Yes. They are known as 'square pegs' and you know what they say about them.

[percy]

I was on the road this morning at 5.30am.Had business to do in Oamaru and Palmerston.I must admit I was very pleased to get to get out of ChCh for the day and am looking forward to being out of town all next week with business in Ranfurly,Alexandra,Cromwell,Wanaka and Twizel.The after shocks are getting to me;just do not know if they are after shocks or the start of another big one.Wife sleeping in her clothes.,I thought there 3 last night while wife thought there were 5.People in Palmerston and Oamaru felt the quake and some of the aftershocks.

[Major von Tempsky]

Big very sharp aftershock just before 8 am, only exceeded by the big earthquake itself. This time the power stayed on here but went off in a number of areas.

The scary thing is its on a different fault! Centered in the Heathcote Valley (damage there) not far from Lyttelton, 6 kms deep.

Really annoying is all the media reported it as 6.1, so I text that overseas, now they say 5.1, what's going on? Why don't they just shut-up until they know?
What can be said authoritatively is that it was by far the worst of the aftershocks, but perhaps it should be counted as a separate earthquake since its on a separate fault!

[fungus pudding]

Big very sharp aftershock just before 8 am, only exceeded by the big earthquake itself. This time the power stayed on here but went off in a number of areas.

The scary thing is its on a different fault! Centered in the Heathcote Valley (damage there) not far from Lyttelton, 6 kms deep.

Really annoying is all the media reported it as 6.1, so I text that overseas, now they say 5.1, what's going on? Why don't they just shut-up until they know?



Because that's the way it is. Initial eq reports are almost always revised shortly after. Why don't you not report it till you know? :confused:

[CJ]

Really annoying is all the media reported it as 6.1, so I text that overseas, now they say 5.1, what's going on? Why don't they just shut-up until they know?
What can be said authoritatively is that it was by far the worst of the aftershocks, but perhaps it should be counted as a separate earthquake since its on a separate fault!The same can be said for the first one which was originally a 7.4. Surely they must read this of a peice of equipment so why the need to revise it. If the equipment said 7.4, then it was 7.4. I would have thought it could only go UP as you find a piece of equipment that recorded a higher number (ie. closer to the fault).

Over reporting is a problem but with the speed at which news spreads via Text and tweets, it a real problem. if you got a few people with a lot of followers to Tweet there was a volcanic eruption in auckland, it would probably spread around the world before it was reported as false.

[ratkin]

Until this mornings shake i havent been to worried, but now im thinking its time tto leave for a few weeks.
.
If a 5.1 shallow earthquake centred at diamond harbour can be that violent ,
then a shallow 6.1 centred on chch (they are getting closer) could pull the place apart.

My mate in st martins has bad damage to his house after todays shake , it was untouched by the main one.


The depth of the earthquake seems far more important than its richter scale number

[brettdale]

Thanfully they seem to be getting smaller, but they also seem to be moving closer to chch, what does it mean?

[Major von Tempsky]

It means that Jim Anderton's boring them to death with his nightmare of The People's Republic of Christchurch.

[fungus pudding]

It means that Jim Anderton's boring them to death with his nightmare of The People's Republic of Christchurch.

Can anyone point to any url giving Commie Jim's prophetic statement that only an earthquake could stop hi winning now? I heard it sometime on some radio station, but woould love to retain a copy.

[craic]

Google jim anderton and you will find everything you want.

[fungus pudding]

Google jim anderton and you will find everything you want.

Tried that but I can't find his brilliant quote.

[whirly]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GCcljJnsU&feature=youtu.be

He was talking about leaving Labour party not the Local elections and it has been taken out of context.

[peat]

Tried that but I can't find his brilliant quote.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK_s5y4OnWo

but there would seem to be some loose license being deployed re editing going on the comments

[fungus pudding]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK_s5y4OnWo



Thanks for that.

[brettdale]

After shock this morning was freaky, it seems they are coming in the morning or late at night.

[brettdale]

another big aftershock, 1pm friday, my stomach is weezy.

[ratkin]

Was a big jolt but only lasted a second. Had my heart pounding though

[Shrewd Crude]

On the morning of the major earthquake my mates car got crushed by bricks...
It was a gold BMW... It was all over the news and the images have been around the world...
poor fella didnt have insurance which ran out 4 weeks ago...
:cool:
.^sc

[Arbitrage]

Shrewd, Good to see you survived. I hear ChCh Boys High School Buildings are ok. Lucky for the money spent on extra strengthening a few years ago. Ditto for the Cathedral, Arts Centre, Museum and Christs College.
Pity a lot of the other older buildings weren't. Why did the university take such a hit?

[dartMonkey]

My oldest boy lives in Christchurch, flew up here for a weeks holiday and missed the quake.
Went back home on the Monday.
He's just finished his degree, was looking for work and picked up a job for civil defence type people yesterday.
Maybe I should get him to start picking my stocks ...

[garman]

You would think a place with a name like Christchurch would be safe from acts of God! but No!

[Major von Tempsky]

See Geonet - last aftershock after 10p.m last night and only 3.9.

All we have now is the clean-up of sewerage and damage and the endless haggling/bickering/bitching over saving heritage buildings.
Just bl**dy get on with it eh!

If you can't decide, have an Internet poll on saving each one - anything to reach an actual decision, actually do something and GET ON WITH IT!

[Major von Tempsky]

Nice little 4.6er overnight at 3.40am.

Yesterday morn's 4.5 was just 10kms to the west of Chch, we live in the west of Chch, basically it was just the other side of the airport!
It produced 2 cracks across the concrete floor of our carport, the floor had survived the 7.1 and all the other aftershocks intact.

Day before that there was a quake in the field next to Lincoln Uni, just 2kms shallow! Daughter who works at Lincoln Uni was scared out of her wits!

[ratkin]

Weird stuff going on this evening , big after shocks in quick succesion , then the groundwas swaying for ages. Felt like being on a boat.


Think that volcano under lyttlton harbour is coming back to life.

[Serpie]

Think that volcano under lyttlton harbour is coming back to life.

I hope not - I live on that volcano!

[barney]

Weird alright Ratkin.

Some of those were quite big.

Even after three weeks the old heart starts to race. I don't think any of us will ever get used to this.

[ratkin]

Reference Number: 3378131
NZST: Sat, Sep 25 2010 7:58 pm
Magnitude: 4.1
Depth: 7 km
Details: Within 5 km of Christchurch (http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3378131g.html)

http://www.geonet.org.nz/images/shake-nz-icon.gif (http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3378127g-shaking.html)http://www.geonet.org.nz/images/felt-it.gif (http://magma.geonet.org.nz/felt/app?service=external/Felt&sp=S3378127&sp=SG)http://www.geonet.org.nz/images/earthquake/quakes/3378127g.png (http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3378127g-maps.html)
Reference Number: 3378127
NZST: Sat, Sep 25 2010 7:46 pm
Magnitude: 3.8
Depth: 8 km
Details: Within 5 km of Christchurch (http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3378127g.html)

[h2so4]

I hope not - I live on that volcano!

It's Lord Saron.

The ring lives.:)

[belgarion]

Just heard you chaps in ChCh have been hit by another biggie.

All okay?

[Yankiwi]

Just heard you chaps in ChCh have been hit by another biggie.

All okay?

[View event in Google Maps] Reference Number: 3468575
NZDT: Tue, Feb 22 2011 12:51 pm
Magnitude: 6.3
Depth: 5 km
Details: 10 km south-east of Christchurch


I was watching the Dunedin greyhounds just about to box up on TAB and they had quite a shake from it there.

[Huang Chung]

Just read about it on HC.

Hope all's well for you guys in ChCh.

[blackcap]

watching the coverage on channel 1 now... looks bad. Hope everyone is well and that no one has died. This looks worse than the last one. Chin up guys.

[KW]

Please let me know how bad it is there - I have friends and family in CHCH :-(
I saw the cathedral has lost its steeple - so sad. Its like the city is slowly being destroyed piece by piece. I wonder if it will end up becoming uninhabitable - its been six months of earthquakes, and no sign of them stopping.

[shasta]

Please let me know how bad it is there - I have friends and family in CHCH :-(
I saw the cathedral has lost its steeple - so sad. Its like the city is slowly being destroyed piece by piece. I wonder if it will end up becoming uninhabitable - its been six months of earthquakes, and no sign of them stopping.

TV3 having reports of multiple fatalities & that all ambulances are now fully tied up with the injured, sounds bad

[drillfix]

Just watching this live on the news atm, sheebers, I hope all you folks in the Christchurch area are ok.

[Jay]

All the best to those in CHCH , unfortunately it looks far worse than September, with unconfirmed multiple fatalities reported

[QOH]

Thinking of all you chch posters, hoping you all and those you love are safe. Feel so sad for you all having to endure this again.

[Paddie]

This is a very tragic day and our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Christchurch tonight.

Things don't look great at all and we have friends and family from all over the world wishing you the best.

I don't know what else to say in a time like this other than we are thinking of you and all the very best.


Regards
Paddie

[asc4]

Best Wishes to those in ChCh, our thoughts are with you all on the tragic day.

[hal]

Very sad.

Best wishes to everybody.

I hope nobody here is directly involved and if so best wishes for a speedy resolution.

[skeet]

Power just back on, seen first images on the TV. Shocking experience that I hope no one in NZ ever witnesses again, helped out where i could, heared the calls of the people trapped, No idea what happened to them and witnessed a couple of bodies being covered by jackets, saw a church collapse right in front of me in one of the aftershocks.

[Huang Chung]

Were you inside at the time Skeet?

[ratkin]

Power just come back on in somerfield. Thank goodness , was already suffering internet withdrawel symptoms.
Can cope with no water , but no internet , disaster

[skeet]

Were you inside at the time Skeet?

I was up 7th floor, building right across from CTV, thrown from my chair and computers etc went flying.
The first time in my life I have actually been scared that this was the end.

[buns]

Yea not good this.

Hope all is well for those connected.

My partner working in ED at Wgtn hospo says they are getting flooded even..

I think we might hear some scary totals about this time tomorrow.

[Huang Chung]

Geez mate, glad you're OK. I've never been to ChCh, but have been following it on the news over here. Looks like you were pretty much at ground zero as far as damage goes.

When you eventually get back to work, kneel down and kiss the floor. That building undoubtedly saved your life.

[ratkin]

Dont think will be able to sleep tonight , aftershocks every five minutes or so

[Shrewd Crude]

Sick day,
Off to Aussie tomorrow,
for the first time in my life I dont have a house to come back to...
:cool:
.^sc

[Shrewd Crude]

Went out New Brighton ways today... The roads flow like rivers, and its off road...
spent 2 hours in traffic jams...

All the best Ratkin and others...

:cool:
.^sc

[A J]

All good here in Bryndwr, I was at home at the time so couldn't go too wrong really.

Definately not good all this, good to hear your ok Skeet. Hope upside is all good? He works in town. Trackers, Bermuda? Thoughts are with others who haven't been as fortunate today.

Aaron

[whirly]

Have been thinking of you guys and girls over there all day. As well as others I know I hope all ST members are safe. Dear Universal One, We've had enough to make us take stock of whats important over the last 6 months and I think we get it now so stop with the tragedy's will ya.

[ratkin]

Did any of you in chch get any sleep? I gave up trying at 2am and have been watching the internationl coverage, too many aftershocks to sleep.
Starting to think there no point staying in town , should sneak away for a holiday, a little reluctant to leave an empty house though , the ratbags will be out and about, probably the same ones who robbed my next door neighbours on boxing day

[skeet]

Im probably going to my brothers family for a couple days, lives in Darfield, just to get away from it for awhile.

[Oiler]

Im probably going to my brothers family for a couple days, lives in Darfield, just to get away from it for away.

Sounds like a good idea SKEET, calm the nerves a little. What an unbelievable tragedy!!

To help cheer you up Skeet, the word on the street here is that Green Gate and Taranaki Ventures (Canadian crowd) had a good oil strike on Monday. I think you still hold some ??

My thoughts are with all my ST friends in Christchurch. Has anyone heard from UU ??

[STRAT]

Not good.
Hope all I know and love are OK down there.
Serpie. Sound out mate. Will try the phone again today.

[Shrewd Crude]

I just read on facebook that Upside is "doing fine"...
:cool:
.^sc

[KW]

Hope everyone is okay. So far all my friends and family in chch are accounted for. I hope all yours are as well. It's hard being here in aus and not being able to help.

[upside_umop]

Sounds like a good idea SKEET, calm the nerves a little. What an unbelievable tragedy!!

To help cheer you up Skeet, the word on the street here is that Green Gate and Taranaki Ventures (Canadian crowd) had a good oil strike on Monday. I think you still hold some ??

My thoughts are with all my ST friends in Christchurch. Has anyone heard from UU ??

Hi Oiler,

Yeah I'm alright. Phone reception here has been terrible and difficult to get a text out.

Nothing much to report, you guys can see how it is on tv :(

[Skol]

Glad to hear you're OK UU
Air NZ sending a couple of 747's down to help with the backlog.

[boring]

This article nicely sums up what the media and the Australians in general have been saying over here:

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/100-per-cent-pure-pain-100-per-cent-pure-mateship/

The key phrases being:

We don’t do NZ quite the same favour in the day-to-day news cycle. In fact, most Australian media outlets do a reasonably good job of ignoring their day-to-day affairs entirely ... But when it comes to the serious, the shocking or the heartbreaking, New Zealand becomes a de facto state of Australia. We send our rescue teams and other experts. Our news cycle is their news cycle.

In many ways we are lucky to have New Zealand as our neighbour. Show me another country, anywhere in the globe that shares so many common values, or sees eye to eye on so many important issues as the Kiwis and us. Put it this way: I bet England would rather have New Zealand than France across the channel.

Be safe everyone.

[gazprom1]

Tough days. We are all good as are family. Can't get hold of Serpie yet. Anybody heard from him?? Lost the house in Armagh Street but at least nobody was in at the time. Hope all the rest of the ST guys are ok.

Gaz

[Sideshow Bob]

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers for everyone in Christchurch at this horrendous time.

Kia Kaha

[shasta]

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers for everyone in Christchurch at this horrendous time.

Kia Kaha

Keep hearing on TV3 news that is the first time a "National Emergency" has been declared & they are saying this will likely be NZ's worst natural disaster, which given the Napier earthquake (& ensuring fires) killed 256, means we gotta brace ourselves for the fatalies to rise, it just keeps getting worse :(

[QOH]

Tough days. We are all good as are family. Can't get hold of Serpie yet. Anybody heard from him?? Lost the house in Armagh Street but at least nobody was in at the time. Hope all the rest of the ST guys are ok.

Gaz

Do you know how badly the Windsor Hotel in Armagh Street has been damaged? I loved that hotel, it was like stepping into the past going there, and the owners were always so obliging. I see their website says they have been damaged but not how much.

[skeet]

Spent the day at family friends house cleaning there house, parts of the ceiling had collapsed, wall had moved away at back of the house, alot of extpensive Royal Dalton broken there. Then headed home to take the chimney down then on to my brothers two rentals house, one is really bad been couple inches of sand and water thru the house, cracks in the kitchen and up back of the house and water still coming up the ground in the garage, will be another full on day tomorrow, no stopping atm on about 4 hours of sleep.

[upside_umop]

Tough days. We are all good as are family. Can't get hold of Serpie yet. Anybody heard from him?? Lost the house in Armagh Street but at least nobody was in at the time. Hope all the rest of the ST guys are ok.

Gaz

Gaz, according to facebook Serpie seems to be ok.

I should add I think they have little power and maybe on empty now. Here is his original message:


To all of our friends and family - we're ok. No comms apart from wireless laptop and battery, which is going flat, but Russell, Anglela, Holly and Harry are ok. I've spoken to Dean - he's ok. Mum and Dad are ok. Not sure about their properties. our thuoghts are with all others.

I'm sure he won't mind me posting this here :)

[STRAT]

Gaz, according to facebook Serpie seems to be ok.

I should add I think they have little power and maybe on empty now. Here is his original message:



I'm sure he won't mind me posting this here :)Glad you are ok Ooomop. Thanks for that post. Ive been calling serpie without success.

[stevo1]

Deepest sympathy to all involved ,incredible to see the best side of human nature though with the help and care going into NZ with practical help and care from both within NZ and from OZ,US,England,singapore,Japan,taiwan and others.Hearts and minds with you Cantabrians. Kia Kaha

[777]

Deepest sympathy to all involved ,incredible to see the best side of human nature though with the help and care going into NZ with practical help and care from both within NZ and from OZ,US,England,singapore,Japan,taiwan and others.Hearts and minds with you Cantabrians. Kia Kaha

and the worst side of human nature

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4698107/Missing-womans-house-burgled

[stevo1]

and the worst side of human nature

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4698107/Missing-womans-house-burgled

Bloody unfortunate, stupid greedy scum,but far outweighed with the better side of human nature .Kia kaha

[QOH]

and the worst side of human nature

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4698107/Missing-womans-house-burgled

The police should be allowed to shoot looters when there is a state of emergency declared.

[shasta]

The police should be allowed to shoot looters when there is a state of emergency declared.

Im happy with that.

Or else public floggings

[Yankiwi]

The police should be allowed to shoot looters when there is a state of emergency declared.

Catch someone red-handed the first time.... cut the hand off. (as well as bar them from any future government assistance)

Catch them a second time, cut the second hand off.

That WILL stop them!

[skeet]

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/02/christchurch_earthquake.html

Chilling

[STRAT]

Has anyone heard from Bermuda, Financially Dependent and Mr Needs?

[Oiler]

Has anyone heard from Bermuda, Financially Dependent and Mr Needs?

I have heard from Bermuda and last I heard FD was going overseas, so may still be away. Mr Needs I think lives in Wellington?? UU will know.

[STRAT]

I have heard from Bermuda and last I heard FD was going overseas, so may still be away. Mr Needs I think lives in Wellington?? UU will know.

Thanks G
You are right Mr Needs is not in Christchurch. Im mixing up my memories of the ST meetings. Better drink less at them eh?

[asc4]

Just rang the Vice-chancellors office at Macquarie Uni, Sydney (where I go) and they will be donating and setting up donations from students and staff next week. My folks are putting up their spare room in NZ for people in need. Every little bit helps. Just which I could do more from here in oz.

All the best for those involved, my heart goes out to you.

[STRAT]

Serpie. So glad to see your name at the bottom of the page

[Serpie]

Family and friends safe and well. Work team all ok, and running around like blue arse flies trying to get services going again.

Business premises destroyed. House - new indoor outdoor flow but should be ok. No power, water, sewage. Rentals destroyed.

Thanks to all of those who have been worried. We know that you're thinking of us, and we appreciate it more than we can express.

[shasta]

Family and friends safe and well. Work team all ok, and running around like blue arse flies trying to get services going again.

Business premises destroyed. House - new indoor outdoor flow but should be ok. No power, water, sewage. Rentals destroyed.

Thanks to all of those who have been worried. We know that you're thinking of us, and we appreciate it more than we can express.

Insurance can replace everything but people, great to hear all the Chch based Sharetrader folk are safe

[Shrewd Crude]

thanks for your Phone call Strat... appreciate that...
I will be catching you in November...
take care...
:cool:
.^sc

[Serpie]

Just finished checking stuff in Sumner and Redcliffes. Surreal out there.
Time to call it a day and go and see the family.
Have a nice weekend all.

[percy]

I was at Morven School today.Just north of the Waitaki River.Donna said they had houses and help avaliable for old or young famlies.People from Morven would even drive up to ChCh to collect them.phone during school hours I suppose.Donna [03]689 4717.

[STRAT]

Hi Dragonz.
Everyone I know in Christchurch, I have me here. Some I know better than others but I have liked everyone I have met. I really feel for you all. I called the few numbers I have but Ironicly with the exception of Shrewdy it was back here on ST that contact was made.
The whole thing puts a new perspective on having a bad day. Cant see me thinkin Ive had a bad day ever again.

If there is anything I can do for anyone at ST who live in christchurch from up here. Let me know. I will do what I can.

[dragonz]

where is Dr who?

[h2so4]

Here on holiday. Walked thru CBD on Monday such a beautiful and romantic city. Guess we were lucky.

[ratkin]

Well im in the thick of it and to be honest its not nearly as bad as those outside chch might think.
I dont mean the damage , but more the people. Many have no water or power but its more than made
up for by the community spirit , its actually enjoyable in a sense. Been out visiting , barbecues etc and it
feels good to actually help one another.
Im glad i stayed in town , wouldnt want to miss it , before the quakes i hardly knew other people in
my street , now we all looking out for one another , shame it took an earthquake but it all good

[percy]

Well im in the thick of it and to be honest its not nearly as bad as those outside chch might think.
I dont mean the damage , but more the people. Many have no water or power but its more than made
up for by the community spirit , its actually enjoyable in a sense. Been out visiting , barbecues etc and it
feels good to actually help one another.
Im glad i stayed in town , wouldnt want to miss it , before the quakes i hardly knew other people in
my street , now we all looing out for one another , shame it took an earthquake but it all good

I am finding all the neighbours are helping each other out,everyone sharing what they have ,and people being patience at service stations,at the suppermarket and even on the roads,just surprised by so many small acts of kindness.If you start to think of all the problems you can get depressed.If you think of what you have, you realise just how lucky you are.There is so much goodness about.

[percy]

where is Dr who?

I do not think he has posted since 24/09/10 when he said he was going to the film Wall street 2. I was waiting for him to comment.I thought he lived in Auckland.

[STRAT]

Well im in the thick of it and to be honest its not nearly as bad as those outside chch might think.
I dont mean the damage , but more the people. Many have no water or power but its more than made
up for by the community spirit , its actually enjoyable in a sense. Been out visiting , barbecues etc and it
feels good to actually help one another.
Im glad i stayed in town , wouldnt want to miss it , before the quakes i hardly knew other people in
my street , now we all looking out for one another , shame it took an earthquake but it all goodThats wonderful Ratkin :t_up:

[Major von Tempsky]

No doubt Wellington is secretly rubbing its hands in glee at the prospect of becoming NZ's 2nd largest city again for a while.

However the airport is totally open again and its growing like topsy with developments in all directions. The port totally opens again shortly and I think it had its 1st ship yesterday followed by another today.

The rail (not used for commuters anyway) will be rapidly repaired as it was last time (it doesn't go through the city centre.)

The roads are being repaired now, the tunnel is open again already.

The western, northern suburbs (the fastest growing ones) are ok and all the outlying tourist towns, Darfield, Methven, Akaroa, Hanmer Springs, Amberley, Ashburton, Timaru are all ok except Lyttelton.

People have always been wringing their hands at city centre shopping dying out, now its dead, at least for a while and the suburban malls will grow even faster.
The only loss are the 1 in 3 office blocks in the central city.
Some of the work can be done remotely, son in law rebooted his remote servers and is printing out remotely.

I hope we are surprised at how fast the remaining 2 in 3 office blocks get back to work and replacement space is found.

The thing about Chch compared to Wellington is that its all productive apart from The People's Republic of Christchurch and the erstwhile Green Marxist Republic of Canterbury Regional Authority.

So to those who have rapidly shoved off: hurry back soon before someone else fills your job or enterprise niche.

[seaosh]

Well im in the thick of it and to be honest its not nearly as bad as those outside chch might think.
I dont mean the damage , but more the people. Many have no water or power but its more than made
up for by the community spirit , its actually enjoyable in a sense. Been out visiting , barbecues etc and it
feels good to actually help one another.
Im glad i stayed in town , wouldnt want to miss it , before the quakes i hardly knew other people in
my street , now we all looking out for one another , shame it took an earthquake but it all good

I was in the big one that hit Taiwan a decade ago and experienced similar. Life shifted to a new kind of 'normal' and carried right on. With thousands of homes destroyed and the power and water knocked out people started camping. There were BBQs. I met dozens of neighbors I'd otherwise never have spoken to. The crazy Taiwanese drivers became incredibly courteous, meaning I could cross the road without fearing for my life (that last bit only lasted a couple of weeks mind you).

I was fortunate in that the real tragedy pretty much passed me by. I had only recently arrived in the country as a single guy, and none of my small circle of friends came to any harm. For me it was more just a very memorable experience, an odd mix of surreal and normal.

It happened around 1 am and people were shaken out of bed and went to congregate in a park. I remember this terrified German guy running around freaking out. He thought the Chinese had invaded and we were being bombed!

It changed my feelings towards earthquake. I'd always felt relaxed about them. I actually enjoyed them as sort of little thrill - a kind of novelty. Since being in a big one though they have scared me big time. I get tense the moment I feel one, even a small one. For months I slept with a glass of water beside my bed as an 'earthquake detection device'.

Thing is, the Taipei quake started off like a normal one, then it just got bigger and bigger and wouldn't stop. By the time I decided I should do something it was far too late. The building was shaking so much I could no longer move straight. Scary stuff. Now the moment I feel a tremor I'm waiting for things to get bad.

Anyway, I checked into this thread a few times this week to check Sharetrader's Canterbury contingent are OK. It was great to be able to see here that you are all unscathed. Hope to meet you all again at some future Sharetrader event. The damage to property sucks (especially the historic buildings), but those things can be rebuilt.

[ratkin]

i Understand where your coming from about the fear factor.

After the september earthquake there was a feeling that if everyone could survive a 7.1 then there wasnt much to worry about , many of us actually enjoyed all the aftershocks. The authorities were all patting themselves on the back about all their wonderful earthquake proof buildings etc
To be flattened by a 6.2 has come as a huge shock to many , its no wonder there a mass exodus.

There will be plenty happy to move here though , will be an economic boom at some stage.
As for the central city it would probably make sense to permanently move all the office buildings to a new suburban development ,or seperate them Would make access and parking so much easier. The centre could be turned into a nice green area , with touristy things in it , no reason why the workers should have to go there

[Major von Tempsky]

All is doom and gloom in the media.
Yet the airport is operating normally and so now is Lyttelton Port whic was the epicentre of the quake.
82% and growing have electricity and so too with water which two thirds now have.

This morning I received a request from an organisation on the 5th floor of a building not far from Latimer Square and not that far from Canty TV, to help move stuff out of their offices!

Quoi? According to the media and certain other people everything is dead and collapsed in central Chch and cordoned off and it won't be restored for 5 years if ever!

There are certain people in Chch who are chucking their weight around and anyone who carries out a normal activity gets criticised for not wearing sackcloth and ashes and wailing non-stop.
These people make me sick.

[craic]

Met my first wife there at the"Latimer" in about '62 and she's still around the house close to fifty years later. Lived with Jack and Shirley Hampton for a couple of years in Salisbury Street and also Lived in Peterboro Street and upper Colombo Street. Worked at Mercers making beer tankers and at felt and Textiles at Riccarton and the glass works at Hornby. If you really want to experience the positive side of an earthquake, come up here to Napier during Art Deco Week. I am not a Deco fan but the thing is getting bigger each year.Tourists from all over the place, several concerts,a bit of an air show, rows of vintage cars and two or three cruise ships through the port. Apart from all the fun - and the revenue stream, most of us are prepared for the next big one. Water stocks, food stocks fuel for stoves (you can still burn wood in Napier)and all sorts of emergency devices but all we ever get is a rumble that breaks a plate that Aunty Edna left us in her will. Good Luck, Christchurch.it'll take a while but it will come right - -I did.

[skeet]

As far as im aware of most people are getting on with life as normal as possible, there is a pretty positive atmosphere considering some of the stories Ive heard. Even last night i was at a bbq, and we found out one of our friends has decided to move to Nelson, his house was fine, his work will be busier than ever and he is on full pay, but almost everyone ripped into him for not sticking it out. Some of us there arnt being paid, will have lost our jobs completely, and witnessed some horrific sights in the cbd, but you wouldnt see us quitting the city we were born and raised in. Mind you we all are in our mid twenties, with no families and can pick ourselves up from this, even if we lost everything.

[Financially dependant]

Just got back from overseas to all the mess, we are all ok and great to hear the CHCH ST's are all accounted for..cheers FD

[Rocketman]

Who would have thought the BBQ and informal meetings at the water tanker (kindly supplied in our street each day by a contractor friend of mine) would form the centre piece of new community spirit. Many of my neighbours, who I have never met before, have shared resources though most of our homes are badly damaged.

Some have fled (Europe, Bangkok and Queenstown) but most have stayed to tidy up the mess. And it is amazing the resourcefulness. One knew a scaffolding guy, so now 5 or 6 of us have scaffording to tear down unsafe cladding. One had a plumber mate who repaired the damage to all the water cylinders in the street. My mate delivers the water. Even in one week huge progress has been made (though we have seen no sign of any of the official help).

We are talking of a communal skip to dump all the damaged goods. We help each other shift things or carry buckets. We are all well.

Good things have come from bad.

[barney]

All is doom and gloom in the media.
Yet the airport is operating normally and so now is Lyttelton Port whic was the epicentre of the quake.
82% and growing have electricity and so too with water which two thirds now have.

This morning I received a request from an organisation on the 5th floor of a building not far from Latimer Square and not that far from Canty TV, to help move stuff out of their offices!

Quoi? According to the media and certain other people everything is dead and collapsed in central Chch and cordoned off and it won't be restored for 5 years if ever!

There are certain people in Chch who are chucking their weight around and anyone who carries out a normal activity gets criticised for not wearing sackcloth and ashes and wailing non-stop.
These people make me sick.

I've had to stop watching most of the TV news on the quake. They've run out of angles and are trying to drum up stories pitching one side of town against the other. It's deplorable.

For those mostly affected the impact can not be underestimated and for the rest of us it's no picnic either. But large parts of the city are starting to get up and running again. I wish it could be the same for everyone but that's not the case.

But the city will rebuild and we have a fantastic opportunity to develope one of the best cities in the world. As Major rightly points out the central city was in serious decline and it would a great tribute to all the victims, and the citizens of Christchurch, to rebuild the city to rival anything in the world. Not bigger,not brighter, not flasher. Just better.

[airedale]

Good on you, Rocketman, and all others, that's the spirit.
FD, good to hear that you are OK.

[KW]

I thought it would be cool if they hired one architect to design all the new buildings and parks. Have a world wide competition to find him/her. Then rebuild in a single style so you have a historic city of the future - like Napier and its Art Deco look. The funkier the better - Chch could be the new Barcelona or San Francisco where people come to admire the architecture. It would be a major tourist attraction.

[belgarion]

Not a bad idea KW. Some of the great cities of the world were created like that.

For example, Napolean got some dude to do Paris as as Nappers thought Paris just too much a village. Note there was no disaster there tho (except for the existing peasants who were summarily evicted). The Fire of London allowed Christopher Wren to design a whole bunch of buildings. Allies booming Rotterdam flat allowed the dutch to get very carried away with concrete (actually this isn't a great example).

[percy]

It is certainly going to take people with vision and imagination to bring new life to Christchurch.I find it hard to see the light of day,all infrastructure doubtfull,whole suburbs destroyed,roads in terrible and dangerous condition,thousands leaving,great numbers of people will never reenter their work places,people who will never enter a high-rise building again. Businesses gone,lives lost,jobs gone,homes gone.A lot of people have lost both their business and home.The country as a whole can not just put it's limited resources into rebuilding ChCh.We just do not have the wealth of Australia.The destruction is horrible.Yet there is so much kindness,goodness,happiness and laughter I know we will do it,and do it well.It will take a long time but ChCh was built by tuff settlers.Any one who has walked the Bridal Path accross the hill from Lyttelton to ChCh is left wondering how the earlysettlers managed it after months of sea travel.Already most roads have been cleared of thousands of tons of sand.Work I thought would take months has been done in days.

[fungus pudding]

It is certainly going to take people with vision and imagination to bring new life to Christchurch.I find it hard to see the light of day,all infrastructure doubtfull,whole suburbs destroyed,roads in terrible and dangerous condition,thousands leaving,great numbers of people will never reenter their work places,people who will never enter a high-rise building again. Businesses gone,lives lost,jobs gone,homes gone.A lot of people have lost both their business and home.The country as a whole can not just put it's limited resources into rebuilding ChCh.We just do not have the wealth of Australia.The destruction is horrible.Yet there is so much kindness,goodness,happiness and laughter I know we will do it,and do it well.It will take a long time but ChCh was built by tuff settlers.Any one who has walked the Bridal Path accross the hill from Lyttelton to ChCh is left wondering how the earlysettlers managed it after months of sea travel.Already most roads have been cleared of thousands of tons of sand.Work I thought would take months has been done in days.

Times have been and are rough for Christchurch, but there are silver linings galore ahead. In time Ch-ch will be a booming modern city.

[h2so4]

[QUOTE=percy;339319] Yet there is so much kindness,goodness,happiness and laughter I know we will do it,and do it well. [QUOTE]

Your right percy, I witnessed it first hand. A more fun city I haven't stayed in. Chch will attract whatever resources it needs to rebuild, and will become a better, more modern, more fun place to live.

[minimoke]

Just when the govt is on a winner with their management to date of the Earthquake recovery they go an blow it with a public holiday. Here they go imposing overtime pay on beleaguered Canterbury employers for next Friday or yet another day with no workers - except this time round is definitely on pay but no work. I'd sooner the portaloos went to Bexley than the Park so people can take a dump when the Prince is in town. For parents we get another day with our children at home. Yah as if we weren't crazy enough already but then who needs an education anyway.

[percy]

Just when the govt is on a winner with their management to date of the Earthquake recovery they go an blow it with a public holiday. Here they go imposing overtime pay on beleaguered Canterbury employers for next Friday or yet another day with no workers - except this time round is definitely on pay but no work. I'd sooner the portaloos went to Bexley than the Park so people can take a dump when the Prince is in town. For parents we get another day with our children at home. Yah as if we weren't crazy enough already but then who needs an education anyway.

Every one I speak to just want to try and get back to work/school or on with their lives.A holiday just makes no sense.Better to give the rest of NZ a day off from hearing about our Quake.That would be a real holiday.!!

[ratkin]

Here is a link to the short documentary which warned of the earthquake damage

http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Christchurch-1996-Quake-Doco---why-buildings-collapse/tabid/439/articleID/19091/Default.aspx

[Major von Tempsky]

The latest tsunami alerts have just been issued for Bolivia, Canberra and Hambourg.
An expected 1mm surge in the Hambourg area could devastate coastal shipping Reuters reported.

[ratkin]

How can that earthquake be 150 times bigger than the chch quake , that dosent make any sense when you think of it.

[RRR]

Richter scale is a logarithmic scale (base 10) - Christchurch Sept quake magnitude - ?7.3. Japan - 8.8. Difference=1.5x10= 15 times

[winner69]

Richter scale is a logarithmic scale (base 10) - Christchurch Sept quake magnitude - ?7.3. Japan - 8.8. Difference=1.5x10= 15 times

Not guite correct RRR in that for each whole number change in magnitude is a 10 fold increase in impact .... which means a 2 step change in magnitude is 100 times the impact

So the difference between a magnitude 6 and magnitude 7 is 10 times and the difference between a magnitude 6 and a magnitude 8 is 100 times (10 times 10) ... and the difference betwen a magnitude 6 amnd a magnitude 9 is 1000 times (100 times 10)

maths too hard to do in my head but a 1.5 difference is more than 15 times probablysbout 60 times

So if Chch a few weeks ago was 6.3 and the Japan one was 8.9 thats nearly a change of 2.6 which is enormous ... like nearly 700 times as bad

Of course where it hits and how deep and all that sort of stuff matters as to how much destruction there is

I heard on the news that the japs use another scale which gave a 7

Whatever it is huge disaster

[winner69]

You can see the impact of log scales on Mr P's charts ... even though the log scale he uses is calibrated slightly differently

[Phaedrus]

The Richter scale is a measure of the amplitude of the quake, and whole-number jumps indicate a tenfold increase in wave amplitude.

The amount of energy released increases 31.7 times between whole number values, so an earthquake of 8 is over 1000 times the power of a 6 earthquake, for example.

Both Sky news and the Herald report that this earthquake was 1000 times the power of the ChCh earthquake.

[ratkin]

The scale is fairly meaningless though. Anyone who has been through the two chch earthquakes will tell
you that the richter scale size has little bearing on the actual earthquake experience. There is no
way anyone would describe the first earthquake as being 500 times as pwerful as the second one

[Major von Tempsky]

Hey neat! Some more of Phaedrus' charting animist belief's.

So we had 7.1, 6.3 and now 8.9 so how big and where the next one Phaedrus? (or should I say Moonman ;-) ).

[RazorX]

I was just reading about the Japan earthquake in the local paper and it had a caparison of how much damage an earthquake releases. The Christchurch earthquake released approx 32million tonnes of TNT, the Japan earthquake just released 32 BILLION tonnes of TNT! As Phaedrus said, "That's 1000 times the power of the ChCH earthquake." The Tsunamis actually caused more damage than the earthquake due to their strict building standards. If that 8.9 had hit Christchurch I doubt anyone would be even contemplating rebuilding it.

[Phaedrus]

Hey neat! Some more of Phaedrus' charting animist belief's.You have got yourself very, very confused, MvT.

Animism in the widest sense is a belief that personalized, supernatural beings (or souls) inhabit ordinary animals and objects and govern their existence. I believe none of those things. Go back to my post and read it again - more carefully this time. I said :-
(1) "The Richter scale is a measure of the amplitude of the quake, and whole-number jumps indicate a tenfold increase in wave amplitude".
(2) "The amount of energy released increases 31.7 times between whole number values, so an earthquake of 8 is over 1000 times the power of a 6 earthquake, for example".
(3) "Both Sky news and the Herald report that this earthquake was 1000 times the power of the ChCh earthquake".
THESE ARE ALL SIMPLE STATEMENTS OF FACT. No matter how hard you look, you will find NO reference to charts, NO personal opinions, and above all, NO reference to ANY belief system - let alone animism!

While I am correcting your mistakes here, you really should know that beliefs has no apostrophe. Been on the sauce have we - or just ignorant?


So.... how big and where the next one Phaedrus? .How would I know? I have never claimed the ability to predict earthquakes - or anything else for that matter. What on earth prompted this extraordinary outburst of totally irrelevant personal criticism?

[upside_umop]

I was just reading about the Japan earthquake in the local paper and it had a caparison of how much damage an earthquake releases. The Christchurch earthquake released approx 32million tonnes of TNT, the Japan earthquake just released 32 BILLION tonnes of TNT! As Phaedrus said, "That's 1000 times the power of the ChCH earthquake." The Tsunamis actually caused more damage than the earthquake due to their strict building standards. If that 8.9 had hit Christchurch I doubt anyone would be even contemplating rebuilding it.

The Japanese earthquake was over 100km offshore and the latest Christchurch earthquake (aftershock) was within 10km of the CBD.

What we are really interested in, is the peak ground acceleration as this is what will knock things over. Per wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_ground_acceleration)


PGA Mag Depth Fatalities Earthquake
2.2g 6.3 5km 166* 2011 Christchurch earthquake[1][2]
1.7g 6.7 19km 57 1994 California earthquake[3]
1.26g 7.1 10km 0 2010 Canterbury earthquake
0.8g 6.8 16km 6,434 1995 Kobe earthquake
0.65g 8.8 35 km 521 2010 Chile earthquake
0.51g 6.4 612 2005 Zarand earthquake
0.5g 7.0 13km 92,000 2010 Haiti earthquake
0.35g 8.9 24km 1,000* 2011 Sendai Japan earthquake[4]
0.18g 9.2 23 km 143 1964 Alaska earthquake

As you can see above, the latest 'aftershock' in Christchurch appears to be at the top of the list. I would think that if we saw PGA of 2.2g anywhere in the world, there would be buildings falling over.

The Richter scale is a function of energy over the time of the quake, and is merely one tool to be used to measure a quakes characteristics.

[upside_umop]

Following on, here is an article (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-quake-california-20110226,0,1231448.story) reporting about possible damage in L.A. Commenting on the Christchurch earthquake, they tend to agree:


To understand why this week's quake was such a catastrophe, it's important look beyond its magnitude.

The highest ground acceleration was recorded at more than 2G, or twice the force of gravity –- which would make Tuesday's quake among the most powerful in terms of ground-shaking acceleration on record, Hough said.

Hough said there are eyewitness reports of people being thrown into the air. In the end, the quake was simply too strong for many buildings.

"I strongly suspect the accelerations just exceeded the design values," Hough said.

[Jay]

So In simple terms yes the Richter scale is a relevant measure , however the depth and location has an important part to play - hence the "2nd" ChCh quake caused more damage - shallower and closer to CBD than the first - in Japan may have been deeper and out at sea, but the resulting tsunami has caused an awful lot more "damage" than the quake itself - I got that right?

[minimoke]

If that 8.9 had hit Christchurch I doubt anyone would be even contemplating rebuilding it.
Before we get ahead of our selves an 8.9 isn't going to hit Christchurch. At worst an 8.9 (+) could be generated by the Alpine Fault most likely in South Westland in which case it is Queenstown and west Otago which will get flattened well before Christchurch. Christchurch will get some liquefaction.

As it turns out it only takes a 6.3 and people are contemplating not rebuilding significant parts of eastern Christchurch.

[belgarion]

... an 8.9 isn't going to hit Christchurch.

Huh? Where did you get that from?

[ratkin]

Christchurch's fame for being the worlds most expensive earthquake disaster didnt last long

[minimoke]

Huh? Where did you get that from?
The magnitude of a quake is determined by the size of the fault. The faults around Christchurch simply aren't long enough. To get to a reasonable length fault line (and therefore the potential for a large magnitude) you have to go to the Alpine Fault.
Its the same reason I can confidently predict that Christchurch will never be hit by a 10.5 (or indeed Japan or anywhere else in the world for that matter) since you'd need a fault line longer than the circumference of the planet. The Alpine Fault is around 4 - 600km long so the most we can get is around a 8.2 in the mountains - not in Christchurch.

Try this for a bit of a rough calculator: http://www.iris.edu/edu/10.5/EQSimulator.html

[minimoke]

Christchurch's fame for being the worlds most expensive earthquake disaster didnt last long
If we are arguing semantics - its the tsunami in Japan which did the damage rather than the actual earthquake.

[Major von Tempsky]

I have to say that the Royal Commission of Enquiry into the Feb 22 earthquake seems a most pointless exercise.

So, some learned (in law) retired Judge is going to pontificate on geology and engineering and what went wrong?

He should start with why the study 15 years ago indicating liquefaction was totally ignored by the local and central government (the govt that has ordered the Royal Com).

The point is that the ground acceleration of 2.2g was far higher than the next strongest earthquake in the world and inevitably a lot of buildings and roads failed. You may as well inquire into why a lot of buildings withstood much higher forces than they were designed to stand, such as Ibis House in Hereford St.

The continuing clatter you hear is the noise of stable doors being bolted after the horse has escaped.

[upside_umop]

such as Ibis House in Hereford St..

I worked in that building a couple of years back over summer. I would not have liked to have been in there!

[Lizard]

It will be interesting to see where issues around insurance end up following the Chch quake. There could be significant ramifications throughout the property industry.

For instance, it seems that in Japan it is not standard to insure against earthquake - and, I presume, very costly to do so. From my reading, it seems many commercial buildings aren't insured for earthquake damage over there. As I understand it, residential buildings may be insured, but the insurance is pooled between insurers and the govt with a maximum annual payout to be split between claimants if it is exceeded - i.e. not necessarily full insurance.

I have already heard comments via someone in the insurance industry that they are limiting what they will insure - particularly around business interruption, but with potential further reductions in offerings to come. Some are suggesting to the extreme, being cessation of earthquake insurance - which I guess might then return solely to a govt funded EQC.

It seems to me that the ramifications of this could include more attention to land stability and property age/construction by property purchasers and perhaps result in some properties becoming difficult to sell. Perhaps it could also result in lenders demanding a higher risk premium or interest rate for capital. This goes beyond the higher insurance costs that most property investors would be expecting and may be worth keeping in mind.

[minimoke]

It will be interesting to see where issues around insurance end up following the Chch quake. There could be significant ramifications throughout the property industry.

There sure will.

First up we can expect every residential property owner in the country to pay more in insurance and this will be a two tier increase. EQC has to top up its coffers so the EQC levy will go up. Insurance companies will need to pay off their losses as well as pay higher reinsurance costs so this will have to lead to an increase.

The whole of the country will be affected - not just Christchurch property owners. Its thought that the 22 Feb quake was caused, in part by the weight of the Banks Peninsula volcanoes. Sound familiar Auckland? The Christchurch quakes were on unknown faults - insurers don't like to insure against the unknown - this will put pressure on significant insurance premium increases.

Some parts of Christchurch will become uninsureable - I can't see anyone offering insurance on anywhere from Bromley to Bexley. I might even take a wager that Ferrymead through to North New Brighton is uninsureable - if not uninsureable then the premiums will be huge. Thats a problem for the low value housing stock where the premiums for rental properties may not be attractive and home owners without a mortgage may just not be able to afford the insurance.

I'd not be surprised to see large increase in insurance in Queenstown. This is the area most likely to be flattened in the next "big one". Properties there will be expensive to replace and home owners will give the impression they can afford significant increases. Wellingtons risks are relatively well known so probably not a huge change their.

Commercial property may not be so bad. Of course there will be increases in premiums to cover insurers losses. It appears buildings performed as expected - except CTV and PGC building. Sure they are stuffed, but there was no significant loss of life so buildings codes won't change dramatically - there will be some change because politicians have to be seen to be making things better). We will not change the code to make building resistant to 2.2g shakes. More information has to come out but I'm picking the 22 Feb shake will have released so much energy the chance of another 2.2g shake is negligible - making the insurance risks known and so insurance changes not so dramatic.

Look also for excess limits to rise, with possibly some differential between contents and house claims.

[neopoleII]

i wonder if the trillions of liters of water that got sucked out of the cantabury plains for dairy farming has anything to do with the quake?
that is alot of weight that went missing, could of caused a see saw effect.

[belgarion]

Anyone remember the "multiplier effect" from economics 100? ... With billions being poured into Cantab regional economy and NZ generally, just how much economic activity is going to be generated once the multiplier effect is factored in?

50 Billion over 5 years? Or even more, say 100 Billion over 7 years? ... Methinks towards the later and possibly the tail could last 10 years or more (subject to low i-rates and people spending to create rather than buy-existing).

There's quite a few precedents for this type of boom, e.g. Japan and Germany post WW2. ... And some damning failures, e.g. New Orleans post-Katrina. These three make interesting economic studies. E.g. New Orleans post-Katrina (which was woefully under-insured and no equivilent of the EQC due to political infighting over many years, and no sensible plans to mitigate the inevitable, again politics at its best) is a damning example of what goes wrong when everything could have been going right.

Anyway you look at it, the huge influx of "previously paid for" (insurance premiums over the last x years) /"to be paid for" (rises in insurance premiums) cash over the next few years is going to be very significant indeed!

[belgarion]

Minimoke, would Bexley make a good location for a quake memorial park?

[minimoke]

Minimoke, would Bexley make a good location for a quake memorial park?I'm inclined t think not. If it was me I'd put the land into horticulture either forestry (great for stupid carbon credits) or veges - the new food bowl of the south island - especially given the horticulture land that has already been gobbled up by residential land.

I'm think a CBD park would be the way to go. Lets face it so much real estate is going to be park for the next few years so an integrated inner city plan can create a stunning high density residential, commercial and cultural precinct. A CBD memorial park can be added to the foundation tourist attractions such as the rebuilt cathedral, tram route, punting on the river and rebuilt arts centre.

And while we are on about arts expect Christchurch to be a barren waste land for a while. All the usuals are gone or out of action for quite some time: AMI stadium, Octagon restaurant, Repertory theatre, Isaac Theatre Royal, Town Hall, Convention Center, Court Theater - event the Riccarton Players is gone.

[minimoke]

i wonder if the trillions of liters of water that got sucked out of the cantabury plains for dairy farming has anything to do with the quake?
that is alot of weight that went missing, could of caused a see saw effect.
Think about it! What comes out of the ground goes back into the ground - except a small percent which is the milk. Len Ring is safe for as long as ideas like this float around

[Rocketman]

Talking of Ken Riing - what a w**ker. My kids came home from school first day back saying there was going to be a massive earthquakke in Blenheim the next day, and everyone at school was talking about it. They said no-one was going to school on the 20th March - I said thats true cause its Sunday - but the damage is done.

Why does he get media attention? Its as bad as early reporting on the new Chernobyl in Japan, when there is no real comparison.

[Serpie]

Minimoke, would Bexley make a good location for a quake memorial park?

Good place for a golf course. In fact, why not convert all undamaged golf courses around Christchurch to housing, and relocate all of the golf courses to Dallington, Avonside and Bexley?

You heard it here first.

[ratkin]

Dont bother cleaning up the city centre or the eastern suburbs . instead.........

Leave them as they are and create the worlds best futuristic film set.
Anyone whos anyone in the film industry would love to locate any futuristic type apocolypse movies in a real disaster zone.

Eastern suburbs could be turned into an adventure playground for all the worlds adventure misfits who would like
to have a holiday in a setting which resmbled a post apocolyptic wasteland. To add to the excitement they could keep
it as a no police zone so that what happened in the zone stayed in the zone.
Put massive fences round it , and to make it more edgy for the adventure tourists we could periodically add convicted criminals
from all over NZ and let them roam the ruins. The money saved on penal institutions could be used to help the rest of us
rebuild in a more pleasant area , free from looters and other assorted criminals

[blackcap]

Who is Ken Ring??? Sounds like a total loser. Ratkin... hmmmm my sense of humour appeals to your plan. Could be interesting but unfortunately its not going to happen.

[Rocketman]

Who is Ken Ring??? Sounds like a total loser. Ratkin... hmmmm my sense of humour appeals to your plan. Could be interesting but unfortunately its not going to happen.

Ken Ring is often referred to as the Moon Man - thinks he can predict earthquakes, and has convinced a number of people to leave chch this week end because Sunday 20th has a high level of probability of large earthquake.

[Rocketman]

Dont bother cleaning up the city centre or the eastern suburbs . instead.........

Leave them as they are and create the worlds best futuristic film set.
Anyone whos anyone in the film industry would love to locate any futuristic type apocolypse movies in a real disaster zone.

Eastern suburbs could be turned into an adventure playground for all the worlds adventure misfits who would like
to have a holiday in a setting which resmbled a post apocolyptic wasteland. To add to the excitement they could keep
it as a no police zone so that what happened in the zone stayed in the zone.
Put massive fences round it , and to make it more edgy for the adventure tourists we could periodically add convicted criminals
from all over NZ and let them roam the ruins. The money saved on penal institutions could be used to help the rest of us
rebuild in a more pleasant area , free from looters and other assorted criminals

And then film the area continuously and sell as reality TV to a global audience - allow product placements etc to boost revenue - enough funds to fund the city for the future and reduce rates to zero.

[minimoke]

Finally some sense - Rugby World Cup not coming to Christchurch. Now just to re-allign the school year and we can put an end to this issue.

[skeet]

Just when i thought life was getting back to normal at home a chemical toilet arrived today, thought this is odd seeing as we have had running water since about day 5 after the quake. Turns out the sewage and water mains are stuffed in the area (no surprise there) and they are going to be digging it all up, as to when water will be back on, no time frame given.

[Major von Tempsky]

How can I get an invite to the celebratory dinner the Skeptics and leading scientists are holding on the top floor of the highest remaining stone building in Chch on 20th March?

[duncan macgregor]

How can I get an invite to the celebratory dinner the Skeptics and leading scientists are holding on the top floor of the highest remaining stone building in Chch on 20th March? If it did happen then the deciples would have a field day. I am inclined to think there is some truth in the moon theory. The moon effects the tides, and weather, causing great shifts of weight over the earths surface, so why discount the earthquake theory. I did learn at building school that creating large new dams in earthquake prone areas increases the risk of earthquakes. If I were a betting man then I would lay the odds of him being right at 60% to 40%. I therefore think that loading increased weight to the certain parts of the earths surface increases the risk of earthquakes. Wait until one of those volcanoes blows Auckland to bits or those great high rise buildings in wellington built over the fault line gets hit. Macdunk

[fungus pudding]

Just when i thought life was getting back to normal at home a chemical toilet arrived today, thought this is odd seeing as we have had running water since about day 5 after the quake. Turns out the sewage and water mains are stuffed in the area (no surprise there) and they are going to be digging it all up, as to when water will be back on, no time frame given.

Obviously whatever you have flushed away won't have gone too far. Might pong a bit soon!

[Yankiwi]

I am inclined to think there is some truth in the moon theory. The moon effects the tides, and weather, causing great shifts of weight over the earths surface, so why discount the earthquake theory.
The moon is always there. What changes is the amount of it that can be seen from earth depending on it's orbit around the earth.

[duncan macgregor]

The moon is always there. What changes is the amount of it that can be seen from earth depending on it's orbit around the earth. Quite true but at different distances causing larger or smaller tides. Lets face it the moon has a great gravitational pull which increases and decreases which might have an influence on earthquakes. It might be one of the triggers that gets one going or it might not, which is hard to prove one way or the other. I do know from past experience that most of the bad weather seems to arrive when the moon is on the wane. Macdunk

[craic]

I knew nothing of this man and his predictions until the latest media beat-up, and that's exactly what it is.Every disaster and they descend like flies onto the bodies of the unfortunates. Look at Pike River - our TV screens gave pictures of every tv jornalist, standing in the street, microphone in hand talking about stuff that we already knew or heard earlier in a solemn manner that was designed to impress. Apparently, Ring has been predicting weather patterns for years and many farmers swear by him and rely heavily on his forecasts. I also read that he is or has refused to be interviewed by the media because of their distortion of his work. I am happy to live in Napier Where we don't get earthquakes and reporters are shot at the city boundaries as they arrive. I also intend to give five million of my lotto win to charity when I win the mega prize tonight (or a proportion there of )

[duncan macgregor]

I see no harm in anyone who has a theory coming out predicting events, that may or may not happen. This has been going on for centuries, with prophets predicting this or that. The bible is chock a block with such predictions, claiming that in the days of the end, no stone will be left unturned. Its a wonder all the religeous nutters are not preaching that gospel to us less informed beings. I know from my own experience in the building trade, how difficult it is to convince the powers that be how wrong they are. The disaster that I forewarned about come to pass, and is now costing more to fix than the latest Christchurch earthquake. Should I have shut up or created more noise?, or will this man shut up and go away?, leaving in his mind an ignorant is bliss situation. Think it out and say what you think is my way, and never ridicule an idea unles proved wrong. Macdunk

[ratkin]

Reference Number: 3481489
NZDT: Sun, Mar 20 2011 9:47 pm
Magnitude: 5.1
Depth: 10 km
Details: 10 km east of Christchurch (http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3481489g.html)

Christchurch last night felt its biggest aftershock since February 22 - when the catastrophic earthquake hit the city - on the day Moon Man Ken Ring predicted a big tremor - though experts say there is no scientific link.
The 5.1-magnitude tremor jolted the city at 9.47pm. It was centred 10km east of Christchurch and was 10km deep, GNS Science said.
It followed four minutes after another of magnitude 3, 10km west of Lyttelton at a shallow 5km.
Three other aftershocks also hit the city yesterday, at 1.42am (3.2), 8.57am (3.1) and 10.05pm (2.9).

Was strong enough for Ken Ring to avoid being crusiifed
by Cambell tonight, but not strong enough to give Ring godlike status


The so called experts are quick to rubbish Ring , however these are the same people who have
been saying for years that the earthquake would be in Wellington.
Centuries ago they would of been defending a flat earth

[dartMonkey]

Same guy ...
http://www.amazon.com/Pawmistry-Read-Your-Cats-Paws/dp/1580081118
Classic.
I recall the scientist on the Campbell show confirming that there is no question that there is a provable scientific correlation between smaller earthquakes and the moon but that it was not accurate at all in predicting the big ones.
For example check the dates here:
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/historic-earthquakes/
against the moon phases here - use the 28 day option:
http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-services/online-services/tides
(http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-services/online-services/tides)

[ratkin]

The scientists always think they know best, reality is that they have barely touched the surface of how
things really work
One day their stumbling around in the dark will probably have disastrous consequences for us all.

What more could Ring do? He came out and said 20th march , and on that very date we have the
biggest aftershock , yet still he seen as an oddball.
Take a look at the taiwanese studies on the subject , they also show correlation.

And as for the media accusing Ring of scaring people , thats just great coming from the same people who have been
talking up nuclear armageddon for the last week

[Lizard]

What more could Ring do? He came out and said 20th march , and on that very date we have the
biggest aftershock , yet still he seen as an oddball.

So, on the day, there was a 5.1 aftershock in Christchurch. There was also a 5.0 north-east of Tauranga. And the day before there was a 4.7 at Hawera...

... even if there was any accuracy in Ken Ring's forecasts, they'd need to be a lot more precise before they could also be helpful. In this case, I'd say it was downright unhelpful!

[minimoke]

So, on the day, there was a 5.1 aftershock in Christchurch. There was also a 5.0 north-east of Tauranga. And the day before there was a 4.7 at Hawera...

... even if there was any accuracy in Ken Ring's forecasts, they'd need to be a lot more precise before they could also be helpful. In this case, I'd say it was downright unhelpful!

Actually there was a 5.1 aftershock at a depth of 10km under Shuttle Drive in Wainoni. People live there. The 5.0 was 40km NE of Tauranga at a depth of 190km and the Hawera one was at a depth of 210km. Spot the difference.

I didn't hear Ken Rings prediction but I did hear the media making a lot of it. Unlike many I didn't leave the city and find some irony that people headed to Twizel to escape - only for there to be a couple of 4.3's at a depth of less than 10km only 10km from Twizel on Sunday afternoon. They would have then packed their bags to return to Christchurch - and what did they return to. The biggest aftershock since 22 Feb. Indeed out of the 5,000 shakes since 7 Sept Sundays was in the top 22.

To put Sundays 5.1 into some kind of perspective, Wellington has had one quake in the past 60 years that measured 5.1 or above. And that was 4 km south of Wainuiomata. Theres not too many Wellingtonians who have experienced a 5+ shake. Indeed there have only been 12 shakes in the region that have measured more than 4.0 where as Christchurch has had 258 in 6 months

While not too familiar with Rings earthquake predictions I am perplexed on the medias obsession with running him out of town. Yet we have highly educated Meteorologists who despite their ample education and government funding are unable to accurately predict weather 100% of the time. Just check out NIWA's long range forecasts and what actually happened on the day to see how far out they are. And now we have all these learned earthquake scientists who can't predict anything - do they not wonder the point of their own existence?

[Major von Tempsky]

Yeah and we also have all these Climate Alarmists/Global Warmists who can't predict anything.
Or rather they are non-stop blathering making predictiions. And when their short term predictions all fail they then stretch them out to 90 years ahead (and with such a wide range of plus or minus that they are effectively useless in operational terms) when no-one presently an adult and alive will be there to inform their failed corpse that they failed yet again.

[duncan macgregor]

So, on the day, there was a 5.1 aftershock in Christchurch. There was also a 5.0 north-east of Tauranga. And the day before there was a 4.7 at Hawera...

... even if there was any accuracy in Ken Ring's forecasts, they'd need to be a lot more precise before they could also be helpful. In this case, I'd say it was downright unhelpful! Why Liz does his predictions need to be any more precise than the so called experts, who can only predict after shocks, after the big one. The flat earth mentality is still up and running predicting very little, but rubbishing a theory that looks like it has something going for it.
Nobody can with any accuracy predict an earthquake, they can only predict likely triggers that might cause them. The man makes more sense to me than his would be expert detractors . The moon definately affects the tides, and weather patterns at various levels, so why not earthquake patterns?. The moons gravitational pull is not consistent and in my opinion is likely to trigger earthquakes more so than anything the flat earthers can come up with. Macdunk

[ratkin]

Yes , and the fact there were others around the country at the same time as the full moon/ tides etc adds to his credibility not detracts from it



So, on the day, there was a 5.1 aftershock in Christchurch. There was also a 5.0 north-east of Tauranga. And the day before there was a 4.7 at Hawera...

... even if there was any accuracy in Ken Ring's forecasts, they'd need to be a lot more precise before they could also be helpful. In this case, I'd say it was downright unhelpful!

[Major von Tempsky]

Switch to the sensible alternative

Join the Competitive Enterprise for Human Achievement Hour, an annual celebration of individual freedom and appreciation of the achievements and innovations that people have used to improve their lives throughout history, this Saturday March 26th 2011, 8:00 PM. Click here to learn more. Human Achievement Hour is the pro-human, pro-energy alternative to Earth Hour, the Green’s celebration of a darker world, also scheduled from 8-9 PM on March 26th.

[brettdale]

The guy on the news got it right, until ring picks the exact time, exact size, the exact depth, the exact place, then hes not worth listening to.

IMHO hes like that john edwards guy who says he speaks to dead people, "Im hearing a dave, a david, davey???, anyone know someone like that, its about money or a house and theres a teenager in the house who is misbehaving?"

[skeet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fgxbJBi9cU

[minimoke]

The guy on the news got it right, until ring picks the exact time, exact size, the exact depth, the exact place, then hes not worth listening to.

Presumably we apply the same criteria to all the other "experts", not just in the field of earthquakes but also weather, economics and stock picks?

[ratkin]

Whats the betting that Japan has the entire country up and running before Christchurch sorts out the cbd?

My moneys on Japan , there seems to be very little happening in the cbd. My car is in the crowne plaza
carpark and engineers still havent even been able to enter the building because they worried the Copthorne
will fall on it.
I would of expected by now to see hundreds of trucks in and out removing rubble etc , dangerous buildings
should of been blown up now and some of the 50,000 newlly unemployed should of been in there helping out.
Wtf are they doing?

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Ratkin you need a decent Prime Minister not a trend follower like John Key plus a new Mayor

[Major von Tempsky]

Wrong target Possum, its all controlled by Civil Defence run by military and ex-military blimps. Open fire on them for doing bugger all and taking the easy way out in all circumstances.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Major von Tempsky If he was even a prime ministers rear end he would be doing something even if it was just doing some firing. instead he just listens and keeps the status quo following instead of leading

[skeet]

I would of expected by now to see hundreds of trucks in and out removing rubble etc , dangerous buildings
should of been blown up now and some of the 50,000 newlly unemployed should of been in there helping out.
Wtf are they doing?

Good point, I remember being in Greensburg a day after a tornado flatten 95% of the town seeing a line of trucks as far as the eye could see taking rubble away. Mind you two very different stories

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/502141357_f7a9f60c3e_o.jpg

[minimoke]

Good point, I remember being in Greensburg a day after a tornado flatten 95% of the town seeing a line of trucks as far as the eye could see taking rubble away. Mind you two very different stories
The same has happened in Christchurch. Since February over 360,000 tonnes of silt has been removed.Do the math. Say a truck can carry 10 tons thats 36,000 truck trips to Bottle Lake in a month. Add onto that the demolition material that has been already removed.

Next week some 2,000 to 2,500 buildings in the CBD will be listed as set for demolition. Those buildings are standing but theres a good chance many of them could fall down. If they had already been flattened it might have been easier to bring in the dozers - but given they remain standing they are a significant risk to anyone near them so some sort of controlled demolition is needed otherwise more people will die.

You've also got business owners and heritage people saying "keep the buildings up". When you have these people expressing their view buildings don't come down quickly.

People have yet to realise the enormity of the damage - what we see in the media is just a smidge of the real damage. It is not going to be a quick fix. There no point thinking she'll all be up and running again by Christmas. Christmas 2014 will see some major change. Christmas 2031 will see the city settling down again.

Edit: oh and today we hear there will be something like 4,250,000 tonnes of rubble to be processed and another 20,000 tonnes of silt. Thats a lot of trucks!

[Major von Tempsky]

"Dear Sir,

In reading the Wizard’s call for vision in rebuilding I was utterly amazed to see this quote from Sir Miles Warren “Christchurch has done very well in all the building done post-war”.
Pardon? I racked my brains – maybe the coffee shop annexe to the Cathedral? Has someone snuck in a new Canterbury Provincial Chambers somewhere without me noticing?
Or does he mean the utterly uninspired tall oblong featureless glass Forsyth Barr building?
The average citizen, like me, must be falling about in hysterical laughter! Followed by deep sobbing.

Yours etc,"

[trackers]

Whats the betting that Japan has the entire country up and running before Christchurch sorts out the cbd?

My moneys on Japan

Reminds me of photo 10 in the following link: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/japan-earthquake-two-weeks-later/100034/

[Jay]

Reminds me of photo 10 in the following link: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/japan-earthquake-two-weeks-later/100034/

yes it will be this time next year before it can go for resource consen here!

[minimoke]

Reminds me of photo 10 in the following link: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/03/japan-earthquake-two-weeks-later/100034/
Lets give some credit to our local guys who I think deserve medals. They had the bridge on Fitzgerald operational in no time (and that road looks kinda like the japanese one. They had my stretch of Papanui Road (a main arterial route) done in 4 days. And when I was driving down Beach Road that was one stretch of road 10 times worse than that japanese photo but its been up and running for a while now. All our bridges are open now (I think).

I guess people here know how our underground services are when compared with Japan. By my reckoning more than half the cities water/sewer and copper phone and power lines are pretty well ****ed. Theres not much point having a CBD rebuilt when you don't have a flushing loo.

[minimoke]

Next week some 2,000 to 2,500 buildings in the CBD will be listed as set for demolition.

And heres teh firs tof them:

Number Street Type Building/Business Name Request Type Heritage
35 Cambridge Terrace Rolleston Courts Apts CRITICAL N
50 Victoria Street NZ College of Early Childhood Education CRITICAL N
141 Hereford Street Community House CRITICAL CRITICAL
148 Victoria Street BDO Spicer House CRITICAL CRITICAL
161 Cashel Street Grand Chancellor Hotel CRITICAL Critical
271 Madras Street Harcourts Grenadier CRITICAL N
190-192 Hereford Street Kenton Chambers CRITICAL Y
1 Cracroft Terrace Demolish N
2 Chester Street Stratham House – Cathedral Grammar Demolish Y
6 Eversleigh Street Hadleigh Demolish Y
14 Bedford Row Park Lane Handbags Demolish N
14 Wise Street Addington Flour Mil-Grain Store Demolish Y
17 Norwich Quay Forbes Building Demolish Y
18 Bedford Row Demolish N
24 Marriner Street Rockvilla, dwelling Demolish Y
32 Cathedral Square The Press Building Demolish Y
32 Linwood Avenue Linwood House Demolish Y
33 Rolleston Avenue Christs College Demolish N
41 Cambridge Terrace Cambridge Apartments Demolish N
54 Oxford Terrace Adventure Travel Demolish N
68 Manchester Street Units A and B Demolish Y
72 St Asaph Street Body Works Demolish N
76 Manchester Street Demolish Y
83 Byron Street Demolish N
83 Manchester Street Groovey Glasses Demolish N
84 Hereford Street Mythai (former NZ Trust and Loan Building) Demolish Y
85 Manchester Street Tru Grit Demolish N
105 Worcester Street Metro Demolish N
108 Stanmore Road Demolish n
112 Centaurus Road Demolish Y
116 Centaurus Road Demolish Y
116 Lichfield Street Ruben Blades Demolish Y
117 Chester Street Demolish N
117 Manchester Street Demolish n
121 Worcester Street Mayfair Building Demolish Y
123 Worcester Street Intercity & Newmans Coachlines Demolish N
127 Worcester Street Pills for Thrills Demolish N
132 Kilmore Street Thrifty Car Rental Demolish
135 Kilmore Street Caledonian Hall Demolish Y
137 Kilmore Street Medlab Demolish N
143 Worcester Street Lonsdale House – Gopals + Pedros Demolish Y
149 Manchester Street Nuttals Building Demolish Y
152 Lichfield Street For Lease & “The S****” Demolish N
165 Lichfield Street C4 Coffee Demolish N
165 Lichfield Street C4 Coffee Demolish N
167 Hereford Street Mike Pero House Demolish N
169 Hereford Street Mike Pero House Demolish N
180 Tuam Street Fuller Brothers Demolish Y
183 Durham Street Demolish N
183 Victoria Street Saggio De Vino Demolish N
183 Victoria Street Saggio De Vino Demolish N
194 Gloucester Street Wave House (Old Winnie Bagoes) Demolish Y
196 Papanui Road Villa Antiques Demolish N
198 Hereford Street Fisher and Assoc Demolish Y
198 Manchester Street Former Civic Buildings Demolish Y
202 Hereford Street Avon House Demolish Y
207 Durham Street Kodak Photo Warehouse Demolish N
217 Tuam Street Atami Bath House Demolish N
221 Manchester Street Key Cutting/Shoe Repair Demolish N
221 Tuam Street Portobello Demolish N
222 Kilmore Street The Herbal Dispensary Demolish N
228 Kilmore Street Cupcake Parlour Demolish Y
228 Linwood Avenue Cartridge World Demolish N
230 Linwood Avenue lefthandpath tatoos Demolish N
230 Tuam Street Edison Hall (Workshop, Witchery) Demolish Y
230 Tuam Street Demolish
231 Kilmore Street Cookie Time Demolish N
232 Tuam Street Domo and Witchery Demolish Y
234 Linwood Avenue Dairy Demolish N
236 Cashel Street St Paul’s Church demolish Y
236 Linwood Avenue Fish and Chips Demolish N
236 Tuam Street Domo Demolish Y
238 Linwood Avenue Demolish N
245 Armagh Street Hairdresser Demolish N
245 Kilmore Street Demolish N
247 Armagh Street Laundrette Demolish N
248 St Asaph Street Affordable Car Rentals Demolish N
249 Armagh Street Dairy Demolish N
255 Kilmore Street Octo Ltd Demolish N
261 Kilmore Street Demolish N
263 St Asaph Street Mckenzie and Willis Demolish N
270 St Asaph Street Southlander Bar Demolish N
274 Cashel Street The Provincial Demolish Y
281 Madras Street Community Law Canterbury Demolish N
281 Worcester Street Demolish N
282 Cashel Street Coffee Cashel demolish
288 Main Road Demolish N
293 Manchester Street Subway Demolish N
299 Durham Street Contours Demolish N
359 Barbadoes Street Demolish
373 Durham Street Laycocks Collision Repair Demolish N
382 Colombo Street The Great Opportunity Shop & Dairy Demolish N
398 Colombo Street Sydenham Stationary Demolish Y
400 Colombo Street Demolish Y
402 Colombo Street Demolish Y
402 Oxford Terrace Demolish Y
404 Colombo Street Ascot TV Demolish Y
406 Colombo Street Ascot TV Demolish Y
423 Durham Street Demolish N
435 Durham Street Turret House Demolish Y
441 Colombo Street Demolish N
452 Colombo Street Demolish N
534 Colombo Street Smith City Carpark Demolish N
562 Colombo Street Thai Food Fish & Chips, Starfish Swimwear Demolish N
595 Colombo Street The Lotus Heart Demolish N
597 Colombo Street Grandharna Loka Demolish N
599 Colombo Street Sushi Dining Demolish N
603 Colombo Street Austral Building Demolish Y
605 Colombo Street Internet Cafe / Satay No Demolish Y
615 Colombo Street Austral Building Demolish Y
626 Colombo Street Bean Bags / Montgomery Building Demolish Y
803 Colombo Street The Painted Room Demolish N
819 Colombo Street Phu Thai Demolish N
854 Colombo Street Chesterfield Preschools Ltd or Wharetiki Demolish Y
111 – 113 Lichfield Street Former Park Lane Handbags Demolish Y
141 – 147 Manchester Street Demolish N
141a Manchester Street Demolish N
146-152 Somerfield Street Samsons Garage Demolish N
196A Papanui Road Love in a Basket Demolish N
198A Papanui Road Demolish N
202A Papanui Road Mansfield Antiques & Momo Sushi Demolish N
228A Linwood Avenue Canterbury Cutz Demolish N
230A Linwood Avenue Your Shout Demolish N
384-384A Colombo Street Fish’n’Chips & Eve’s Gifts Demolish N
593a Colombo Street Southern Ink Demolish N
595a Colombo Street Japanese Food Demolish N
597a Colombo Street Longthorn Leather Shop Demolish N
601-601A Colombo Street Pleasure Plus Demolish N
625-629 Colombo Street Sucklings Demolish Y
635-637 Colombo Street Snowgum Demolish N
69-73 Manchester Street Cecil House Demolish Y
69A Beachville Road Demolish N
753-759 Colombo Street 2-storey commercial Demolish Y
87-89 Cashel Street 3 Wise Men Demolish N
374 Montreal Street Demolish

[minimoke]

And these areones for major repaidr or partial deolish
243 Durham Street St Michaels & All Angels Make Safe Y
380 Colombo Street Tasty Tucker Bakery Make Safe N
429 Colombo Street Selwyn Traders Make Safe N
484 Colombo Street Make Safe N
1/204 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
2/204 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
3/204 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
4/204 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
4/210 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
5/204 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
6/204 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
7/204 St Asaph Street P & D Duncan Ltd Make Safe Y
21 Bealey Avenue Carlton Hotel Partial Demolish Y
39 Kahu Road Radio Shack Partial Demolish Y
83 Victoria Street Solo Design Store Partial Demolish N
105 Manchester Street H Pannells Partial Demolish Y
107 Manchester Street Budapest Restaurant Partial Demolish Y
109 Manchester Street John Dary Menswear Partial Demolish Y
114 Lichfield Street Honey Pot Cafe Partial Demolish Y
120 Manchester Street Excelsior Hotel Partial Demolish Y
136 Barbadoes Street Cathedral of Blessed Sacrement Partial Demolish Y
146 Kilmore Street Repertory Theatre Partial Demolish Y
173 Cashel Street Kebab Masters – Highlight House Partial Demolish Y
173 Manchester Street Highlight House Partial Demolish
178 High Street Burgers & Beers Partial Demolish N
183 Durham Street Partial Demolish N
185 Victoria Street Mop Organics Partial Demolish N
197 Durham Street Brown Brothers Eng Partial Demolish N
198 Gloucester Street Partial Demolish
198 Hereford Street Partial Demolish Y
204 Papanui Road Kudos hairdrssers Partial Demolish N
211 Durham Street Avon Bridal Partial Demolish N
211 High Street Storm Partial Demolish Y
223 Tuam Street Global Fabric Partial Demolish N
226 Kilmore Street Cupcake Parlour NOT ADDRESS Partial Demolish Y
227 Fitzgerald Avenue Partial Demolish Y
229 Fitzgerald Avenue Partial Demolish
249 Armagh Street Dairy Partial Demolish N
280 Cashel Street The Complete Angler Partial Demolish N
314 Cashel Street Partial Demolish N
448 Colombo Street Partial Demolish N
592 Colombo Street Dick Smith Partial Demolish N
800 Colombo Street Sala Thai Partial Demolish N
1/492 Colombo Street Modern Engravers Partial Demolish N
140 – 142 Lichfield Street Mayfair Building Partial Demolish Heritage Group 4
2/492 Colombo Street Speedway Bookshop Partial Demolish N
211-213 High Street Excelsion Hotel Bottle Shop Partial Demolish Y
253 – 255 Madras Street Arrow international Partial Demolish N
811-815 Colombo Street Cafe Valentino Partial Demolish

[Major von Tempsky]

I'm involved with 1 building, a 7 storey one, on Hereford St.

I was celebrating its omission from both lists when I was told its coming down anyway, the staircase is twisted and 3 floors are munted. Arrrgggghhhh!
Those 2 lists are not even a best case scenario! A bit pointless publishing them.

[Serpie]

Those 2 lists are not even a best case scenario! A bit pointless publishing them.

To put that list into some kind of context:

There's 13 buildings on it that we were contracted to.

We have 26 buildings that we were contracted to that have already come down or are coming down, most of which do not feature on that list.

And we're estimating another 50-60 buildings that we work on that will be coming down.

So 13 of the 80+ buildings that we believe we've lost are on that list. It's the tip of the iceberg.

[minimoke]

Those 2 lists are not even a best case scenario! A bit pointless publishing them.
If you'd read the start of the post you'd have seen this is just the first buildings named. Perhaps the lists above give people an idea of just part of the destruction in Christchurch and why things might appear to be taking a while.

[Major von Tempsky]

I'm stuck in a lift after the earthquake with enough light to read but only the Sunday Star Times Business News section. I've read and reread everything except Rod Oram's column on the last page but I do have a Swiss Army pocket knife. What shall I do?

Desperate.

[Yankiwi]

What shall I do?


Blow off, and then enjoy the aroma in the stagnant air?

[minimoke]

Blow off, and then enjoy the aroma in the stagnant air?
That would probably be preferable to the stench of rotting food and produce wafting through the city

[Phaedrus]

Use the Swiss Army knife to slash your wrists - I suspect you would find this preferable to reading Rod Oram's column.

Alternatively, bang your head against the wall until you get a saw which you can then use to cut a hole in the ceiling of the lift, thus effecting your escape.

Then again, since you obviously have Internet access, why not simply use that to summon assistance? I doubt that many here on ST would be ready, willing or able to help you!

Use your initiative, man!

[Hoop]

MVT ...Think logically and the investor way

Swiss knife is useful...I will explain that below.

Ignore the media BS....so screw up the newspaper as it is useless and it will only lead you in making a wrong decision.

right!!... back to using the swiss knife....do the following in the exact order mentioned below.

1.....Using your swiss knife.... unscrew the manhole lid in the ceiling and pull it out, to make it possible you can climb out through it...this is your trailing stop strategy.
2.....Using your swiss knife again....unscrew the control panel on the lift wall by the door.
3......Cut the red wire and think quickly like an investor

Investment thinking
If you suddenly accelerate upwards...enjoy the ride
if you go down suddenly in freefall apply the trailing stop strategy mentioned above.
If nothing happens do nothing

[ratkin]

Anyone notice all the drowned rats today? Sewers must of been overflowing wth all that rain yesterday

[Heke]

Anyone notice all the drowned rats today? Sewers must of been overflowing wth all that rain yesterday

Who are they?

[Major von Tempsky]

Actually - 1st prize to Phaedrus, he got it in his first line!

Special merit prize to Hoop for ingenuity :-)

Why Rod Oram persists even though the SST has successively downgraded him, 1st after lots of complaints against his sweeping statements and perverse assumptions they inserted the label "Opinion Piece", secondly by relegating him to the back page.
Most people would have taken the hint by now!

He seems to believe that by constantly chanting "added value" all NZ's problems would be solved, that further thought is not necessary.
And he seems to have a simple minded commitment to whatever the Labour Party spin line happens to be.

[Shrewd Crude]

cant remember if its already been said,
but anyone heard of the story about a guy who had a pent house suite, and dropped a crane in and lowered himself into his hi rise apartment...
funny things are happening here,
Its a ghost town...

When I come back from the USA I will have to make serious decisions, not much happening here...
:cool:
.^sc

[clips]

reputedly pulled out a mill in cash and a truck load o' diamonds....

[Shrewd Crude]

sick day in Christchurch
:cool:
.^sc

[Lizard]

Oh, no!! Not again!! Tears of frustration pricking the backs of my eyes for you all down there!!

[minimoke]

The gas heater bought from Bunnings is my best investment this year! Filling the gas bottle in late Feb the best decision of the year! Dumbest decision - filling in the shi#ter in the back garden. Thats the heat and food sorted, now just the water supply.

[Serpie]

The gas heater bought from Bunnings is my best investment this year! Filling the gas bottle in late Feb the best decision of the year! Dumbest decision - filling in the shi#ter in the back garden. Thats the heat and food sorted, now just the water supply.

My best investment - the generator that's now humming away in the back garden. Got enough power for two lights, the internet, and most importantly - Disney Channel. Got to keep the kids quiet somehow.

[Financially dependant]

My best investment - the generator that's now humming away in the back garden. Got enough power for two lights, the internet, and most importantly - Disney Channel. Got to keep the kids quiet somehow.

Good to hear you are comfortable...I just put my brick fireplace in the front garden but the gas fire is still working...:)
Power and water on so we are lucky.

[percy]

29 since 6 am this morning.!!!! That's a whole lot of shaking.

[Serpie]

Good to hear you are comfortable...I just put my brick fireplace in the front garden but the gas fire is still working...:)
Power and water on so we are lucky.

Indoor / outdoor flow. You cant beat it!

[STRAT]

Sorry to hear you guys are getting it again. The relentlessness of it must be doing you in.

[ratkin]

The media blow it up out of all proportion . Im in christchurch , yes the ground shook, yes a bit of mud came up. Big deal, the suns out , its a nice day . Dont see why the place has to grind to a halt about it.

Went to the ballantynes sale today only to find it was cancelled. Whats wrong with this place? If people just got on with it and didnt mope about all day listening to rubbish on talkback then we would be much
better off.

The only thing that is relentless is the constant mediia barrage of talking heads telling us how much we are
all suffering .ffs why dont they go to africa and report on some real suffering?

[STRAT]

The media blow it up out of all proportion . Im in christchurch , yes the ground shook, yes a bit of mud came up. Big deal, the suns
out , its a nice day .
Dont see why the place has to grind to a halt about it. Went to the ballantynes sale today only to find it was cancelled. Whats wrong
with this place? If people just got on with it and didnt mope about all day listening to rubbish on talkback then we would be much
better off.

The only thing that is relentless is the constant mediia barrage of talking heads telling us how much we are
all suffering .ffs why dont they go to africa and report on some real suffering?Good on ya Ratkin and glad to hear that. The talking heads are my only source of info up here.

[ratkin]

Good on ya Ratkin and glad to hear that. The talking heads are my only source of info up here.

Yes , the rest of New Zealand must have a very distorted reality of what life is like in Christchurch.
They never show the normal bits

[minimoke]

The media blow it up out of all proportion . Im in christchurch , yes the ground shook, yes a bit of mud came up. Big deal, the suns out , its a nice day . Dont see why the place has to grind to a halt about it.

This is a tale of two cities. Theres one city out west relatively unscathed. Move on, not much of a tale here. There's another city out east which will in the next few days hear their part of the story is coming to an end. Thats when the west side story will start to get interesting.

(Ballies sale cancelled today because they need time to pick up most of the 125,000 items which got tossed on the floor. I guess their first priority was to their staff and their families and the next to have their stock well displayed and accessible to customers. Meeting your personal shopping needs probably just didn't quite get up there in priority).

[percy]

I feel sorry for the Ballantynes management and staff.Try to pick themselves up and get going,just to get knocked over again.

[ratkin]

This is a tale of two cities. Theres one city out west relatively unscathed. Move on, not much of a tale here. There's another city out east which will in the next few days hear their part of the story is coming to an end. Thats when the west side story will start to get interesting.

(Ballies sale cancelled today because they need time to pick up most of the 125,000 items which got tossed on the floor. I guess their first priority was to their staff and their families and the next to have their stock well displayed and accessible to customers. Meeting your personal shopping needs probably just didn't quite get up there in priority).


Nonsense , i dont live to far from there , nothing in my house even fell on the floor , not a single thing. I cant see jumpers and jeans flying off tables when not even my ornaments dont fall over.
Reason its not being held is PC rubbish ...... Must give the staff time to recover.

Only thing they need to recover from is the constant stream of propaganda telling them how traumatised they must be

[percy]

Nonsense , i dont live to far from there , nothing in my house even fell on the floor , not a single thing. I cant see jumpers and jeans flying off tables when not even my ornaments dont fall over.
Reason its not being held is PC rubbish ...... Must give the staff time to recover.

Only thing they need to recover from is the constant stream of propaganda telling them how traumatised they must be

I live in Cobham street.I was in the chemist shop in Selwyn Street when the 2.20 pm quake struck.Stock fell off display stands,one wire stand fell over,big mess.A lot of liquidfaction in Durham Street,and all the places we had it Feb.Broken water pipes,water then off,my daughter in Scott Street without power and water.Power and water was also off at wife's mum's place in Rose street.I think you must have been lucky.