Shaken but not Stirred

Early Saturday morning we were woken at 04:36am by a high speed train that was rumbling past our bed room window. Given we don't have train line anywhere near it woke both me and Yvonne up. The bedroom started to move from side to side. Jake and Kirsty came through to our bedroom as the shaking continued. We heard breaking glass. The shaking continued. We all assumed ...... its an earthquake .... and the shaking continued for a minute or more.

We turned on the tv and .... nothing Dorkland was still asleep. I started a thread on www.netweather.tv and we learnt the quake was 7.4 on the reichter scale. There was nothing on the tv until 07:30AM.

We suffered damage. Two wine bottles fell from a shelf in the garage. Thank-fully they were both empty!

Bob Parker, the mayor of Christchurch, was on the telly at 0730am. I had been with Bob on Wednesday at our scout group where he had been talking to our scouts about leadership. Well, he has certainly earned his keep this weekend! I asked him a question on Wednesday, what one thing he had done that had made a difference. He said at the time that the merger of Banks Peninsula with Christchurch City council was his biggest achievement. I suspect that representing Christchurch over the last couple of days will now surpass this achievement!

We drove into Rangiora today and the place has been untouched. However, drive another 10 km down the road to Kiapoi and you will see a different picture. The town has been totally decimated. The town is built upon silt and sand. The effect of the earthquake has caused whole buildings to sink. The town centre is awash with sewage. One of my colleagues lives in the town. I understand his house will need to be demolished and totally re-built.

Yvonne had a call from one of her teacher colleagues who lives in Christchurch. He was telling her that his house has moved into next door. The whole house, foundations and everything has moved sideways by 8 foot!

At Jake and Kirsty's school in Christchurch they have just had an astro turf pitch installed. The pitch is now on two levels .... it has a 50cm shear drop in the middle! The main building has also suffered damage and the school is closed until al least Wednesday.

We hear the city is a real mess. I will no doubt find out tomorrow how bad things are when I try to get into work.