Dear Andrea and Bob (and other on SW),
We have received so many messages of support that we have written a
letter about the earthquake:
Thank you for getting in touch. We were very lucky and are fine. Also
our son
Peter and his partner Gemma who live next door are ok. We have had very little
damage – a few cracks in the walls, mainly another big mess to clean up, books
all over the floor and food piled high on the pantry floor, even with the
earthquake proofing we tried to do. The garden terraces suffered a bit, and a
few cracks in the drive. Pete’s house is liveable but the brick façade has
fallen off on one side and lots of windows are shattered. We spent yesterday
putting a big tarpaulin on the wall, and plastic sheeting on the windows. Power
came back today – hence internet access again. The water is out (and maybe take
quite a while to be restored), and no sewage, so a hole in the garden for the
time being.
We have felt very isolated. We only had a small crackly battery radio for news
and had no idea how bad it was in the city. Also we were very ill prepared, in
spite of already having had a big quake last year and being warned of possible
large aftershocks. We have had lots of small ones, about 4000 in all, up to
magnitude 5 or so, and grew a bit complacent. It was strange not being able to
communicate with anyone we couldn’t walk to. No electricity, no phone, no
cellphone, no internet or email, no water, no sewage. It felt like we had gone
back in time 50 years or more, we have got used to all our mod cons, and instant
communication to anywhere.
Liz was in the middle of making courgette soup when it struck, so we ate
cold halfcooked and unblended soup for tea. Yummy! This morning we dug out our
old gas burner (cups of tea!) and bottles of water we stored way back, and found
the candles. Veges in the garden, so fresh corn for tea. And tomatoes.
We’ve just begun to see what has been happening in CHCH and Lyttelton.
We are feeling a bit shattered and fragile, this earthquake is much different
than the one last year where no one died or was injured. Luckily, all of our
close friends are unhurt, although a few have major damage to their houses and
have had to move out. Last year it struck at 4 am when everyone was safely in
bed, but this one was at lunchtime and lots of people were about. Although it
was only 6.3 and last year 7.1 this one was closer to the city, in fact the
epicenter was in Lyttelton harbour where we live. Also it was shallower
apparently, so more damage. Chch was built on a swamp, and now big areas have
had liquefaction. Our poor city will take a while to recover.
Cheers, Bill
