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17 confirmed dead so far

people were in the tower and the chamber of the Cathedral when it collapsed no word yet

65 confirmed dead another after shock about five minutes ago 4.5 richter

I only hope it stays below a thousand, looking at those pictures.

I talked to my wife on the phone a few minutes ago. She was in a coffee shop in downtown Christchurch when the quake hit. The ceiling in the building she was in collapsed and she and her friend dove under their table. There were injuries to some of the people in the coffee shop which is close to a hospital. My wife assisted some of the injured to the hospital and then stayed there to volunteer her services as a nurse.

I suspect she's in for a busy couple of days then. I'm sure she'd rather be there helping than be anywhere else though. Diving under a table sounds very energetic, too. I'm glad she was lucky. The world's an odd place when someone can be in that sort of extreme situation and yet able to talk half way round the planet at the same time.

I hope there's a few dozen tanker-loads of fresh water on the road, too. There'll be a lot of broken pipes to add to those broken last year.

My best to the New Zealanders.

Lon glad your wife is OK. She will be busy as it looks like there will be many more injuries as they sift through the rubble. My friends and family in Wellington are OK once again shaken and counting their blessings.

Living in California "Earthquake Country" this is always a fear. Some of the building look like they were weakened by the last quake in September, and this one brought them crashing down.

Glad to hear your wife is all right, I hope there will not be too many injuries.

So glad we never went now, Christchurch was where we were looking at locating too. Big relief your wife is ok Lon, how you doing?

buttercup;1354752 wrote: So glad we never went now, Christchurch was where we were looking at locating too. Big relief your wife is ok Lon, how you doing?


I'm doing fine Buttercup-----thank you for asking.

South of Christchurch is the city of Dunedin which was unaffected by the quake. A very Scottish looking community that you would feel most comfortable in I'm sure.

This is the first year in the past 18 that I have not gone to NZ but I had business here that had to be taken care of.

Was that another South Island earthquake, Lon? The USGS just sent out an email alert.

Large earthquake hits Christchurch - national | Stuff.co.nz

BREAKING NEWS: A large earthquake has hit Christchurch, causing evacuations and disruption to power and phone services.

The magnitude 5.8 quake was 8km deep and centred 20km north east of Lyttelton. It struck at 1.58pm and was followed by a second sharp jolt a few minutes later. Several other aftershocks have also been recorded.

The quake was felt as far south as Queenstown and as far north as Lower Hutt, according to GeoNet. People in Greymouth, Ashburton, Dunedin, Hanmer Springs and Oamaru also felt the quake.

There are reports of liquifaction in the Christchurch suburb of Parklands.

I have been following the news on TV. I am in the area of Nelson (Mapua) extreme north end of So. Island and did not feel anything.

Brother in law, sister in law and other family were to make the 5 hour drive from Christchurch on Saturday morning to have big family Xmas dinner on Sunday. Have not been able to make phone contact with them yet.

One hopes their Christmas isn't disrupted. And, of course, that everyone round those parts stays safe.

spot;1379535 wrote: One hopes their Christmas isn't disrupted. And, of course, that everyone round those parts stays safe.


Thank you for your concern. Just talked to BIL in Chch. No building collapse and no serious injuries.