Earthquake in Christchurch again

[Northwoods]

Big earthquake in Christchurch.  They had another big one last September (IIRC) that did quite a bit of damage.  That probably made this one worse due to that previous damage that hadn't been totally repaired.  I have a number of friends there.  There are reports of fatalities.  Prayers for their safety would be appreciated.

The spire on the cathedral in downtown reportedly collapsed.

Link.

[Northwoods]

I was able to get through on the phone to my friends in Ashburton (about an hour's drive south of Christchurch) and they are all OK.  Not too surprising as they're far enough from the epicenter to escape the major shaking.

Got an email back from another family confirming that they are all OK.  That is the sister of the host-mom from when I was an exchange student there.  Apparently they also were able to get ahold of my host-family and they are also OK.  Some damage to the house but not as bad as some.

Still waiting to hear from back from one other family.  Their house was damaged quite a bit in the September quake.  So I'm most worried about them.

[Northwoods]

According to my contact there, death toll currently stands at 65.

[Hawkmoon]

This quake was a lot less strong than the one in Chile last year, but still killed a lot of people. From what I understand, Christchurch is built on sandy, silty soil. When a quake hits an area like that, the water table rises and the soil turns to a quicksand-like mess of glob. The technical name is "soil liquifaction." It's what made one of the big quakes in California a few years ago as severe as it was.

My adopted daughter lived through the big quake in Chile, so she's just looking at the strength number and doesn't understand why a smaller quake killed so many people. She doesn't understand the differing soil dynamic, nor does she comprehend that a 6.5 quake is not exactly a "tremor," as she calls it.

[roo_ster]

Dang.

[RocketMan]

The quake epicenter was reportedly very close the city, approximately three miles away.  Plus, it occurred at a very shallow depth, only about 2.5 miles down.  A very bad situation.

[Northwoods]

No more news from my friends there.  Read a bit of news on stuff.co.nz .  Some rescues of people that were buried.  So that was cool.  But the talk about makeshift morgues was spooky.

My host-dad said that something like 300 miles worth of sewer pipes will have to be replaced.  He estimated it would take a solid 3-4 years to rebuild everything.  His brother in law is an ATC there.  I imagine he's a busy beaver.

[Jim147]

I've spent plenty of phone time with people in Manukau. They should have been far enough away to only feel a bump at the most.

Thinking about the ones you know closer.

jim

[Northwoods]

Finally was able to get through to the last set of friends.  They are physically OK.  Pretty rattled.  They've been without power, water and sewer since the quake and only just got phone service back.  Their home is technically still standing, but in words of Henk "there's no redeming qualities left".  I was only able to talk to them for a couple minutes as they were heading out to go to a friend's house so they could take a shower.