(Malc cooking scrambled eggs on our fireplace, as we had no power.)
On Saturday morning at 4.35 all of Christchurch (and other parts of the country) were woken up by a tremendous earthquake (which measured up to 7.1 on the Richter Scale). I have never felt anything like it, and do not wish to ever again.At first, I lay in bed being shaken, not fully aware of what was happening...then I could hear rumbling, smashing and cracking sounds (without my hearing-aids on!!!). Malc and I leapt out of bed to find safety (actually truth be told...we went to steady the tv's - how stupid is that!?!?!?)...only to fall over from the momentum of the quake. Once the first quake was over, we pulled on some clothes, grabbed our torches (yes, we knew where these were) and ran outside to check on neighbours. About 5 minutes later, another quake hit...this time Malc and I stood in the doorway together.
We phoned family and friends to say we were ok, and to find out if other family in CHCH were ok. Then...we investigated our damage...what we could in the dark (no power). Luckily, we just had broken glass etc, a book case had fallen over, and a crack in the ceiling now travels across the room.
In the background we could hear heaps of sirens going.
The aftershocks are also freaky (we can expect to have them for the next week or so).
On Saturday afternoon, Malc got the call he was expecting...to go to work. He drives for a truck company, so spent the next 20/26 hours transporting diggers, fixing railway lines etc. We still had no power and water, so I spent most of the time at Malc's brothers house - THANK YOU!
We finally got power and water back by Sunday afternoon (4pm)...so the cleaning/boiling water could begin.
No school until next Monday (lack of drinking water, some schools have significant damage (luckily Wairakei does not), and we are having major aftershocks still). Yesterday and today I became Nanny Keeny, as I babysat Malc's twin nieces, plus a friends 2 year old...3 kids 2 years and under is a challange I tell you now!
Last night was the worst night since the quake...we had 3 aftershocks which measured 5.4. At the moment in Christchurch, EVERYONE is on edge, EVERYONE is tired, and EVERYONE is experiencing some sort of shock/grief...all I can say, is that we were so lucky to have NO fatalities. For Malc and myself, we are lucky we had no serious damage - unlike others...
1 comment:
Ah, my friend, I am SO happy you are ok! Yesterday, I was worried about my parents and sister and family as a hurricane was barreling towards them back home in New Brunswick. Then I read about the earthquake in NZ.
I hope the damage at your place turns out to be easily repaired!
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