A City in Ruins, An Island in Shock

The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, NZ at around 1pm local time on Tuesday, its epicenter a bit south of Christchurch, and located a scant 5 km below the surface.  The impact on the center of Christchurch was devastating, with dozens of buildings suffering collapse, and the magnificent steeple of the chuch toppled.  We arrived -- owing to previous plans -- at 1:00 am on Thursday morning, about 36 hours after the quake, along with the Taiwan Search and Rescue team and a host of journalists.  We discovered a city at a standstill, as its residents were fleeing, its emergency services personnel digging frantically, and the people stunned at the damage and loss of life wrought by this earthquake, occuring less than 6 months after the massive September 4th earthquake.

We were in Niue for that earlier earthquake, and recall vividly the charitable impulses of the peoples of the South Pacific, with each store and restaurant collecting donations for the people of Christchurch.  Having arrived so late at night, we stayed at a hostel that had once been the town prison, with 60cm concrete walls.  While likely the safest place to be in Christchurch, outside of an open field, it was nontheless disconcerting to wake up and discover that there had been 12 aftershocks between midnight and 6am.  Later, as we picked up our camper van for our long-planned 3-week tour of the country, both Jennifer and I felt the ground wobble and shake a few times, with the display stands featuring local attractions swaying gently in the office lobby.  Yikes.

Our first instinct was to offer our assistance, but when we heard every disaster management official urging locals to leave town, and when we learned that the local "Youth Service Army" had mobilized thousands (!) of young people to help clean up the streets and houses outside of central Christchurch, we decided the better part of valour was to head north, toward the ferry to the North Island of New Zealand, and to try and make the best of a difficult situation.  Already we have met a number of fellow sojourners who evacuated Christchurch, and their stories are harrowing.  Tonight, we learn that over 100 people have died, and that several hundred more are missing.  The city is in shambles, and hundreds of homes and businesses have already been condemned.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all new Zealanders; we will be returning to Christchurch before heading back to Australia, and hope to get a better sense of the devastation, as well as see what remains of the beautiful city of Christchurch.  For now, we are enjoying meeting the friendly Kiwis, and the spectacular geography of this southern island nation.  Jennifer, for one, is enjoying daytime temperatures in the 50s!

P.S.  For those who haven't heard, the hijacked sailors on board the vessel Quest were murdered, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families, and with all cruisers sailing those treacherous waters.  We are facing some difficult choices, relative to our long-intended plan to sail up the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal.