Living on the Back of the Dragon
Yesterday evening, I flew out of a Melbourne spangled by lights, and back across the dark Tasman Sea to New Zealand. We arrived in Christchurch at midnight to misting rain and a city that has been riven by over a hundred aftershocks from the 7.1 earthquake early Saturday morning (NZ time)—several of them major earthquakes in their own right.
It was hard to see much by night, but the friend who met me at the airport (the same friend who secured my fallen chimney on Saturday) drove home past the cordoned off central city and past neighbourhood shops so damaged that many of them were marked for demolition today. One corner, already cleared, was a sombre eerie sight.
I have been told that in Japan, which like New Zealand is traversed by faultlines, they describe life in the earthquake zone as “living on the back of the dragon”. I was woken today by another 5.1 earthquake, which at that magnitude is something more than an “aftershock”. And today—as I cleaned up the breakages caused by the first earthquake—was marked by a constant series of tremors. Living on the back of a restive dragon indeed—and more than a little disconcerting.
The damage we have sustained so far has been minor, aside from the chimney, and even taking into account the chimney there are others who have suffered far more. I was very mindful of this all day, especially as news came through of even more demolitions in the cordoned off central city—and a walk past my favourite corner bar, just a little place where “everyone knows my name”, showed the whole building marked with the words “Not OK”. Meaning not structurally ok, which suggests that it, too, will almost certainly come down, maybe even as early as tomorrow.
But on a less sombre note, given little damage sustained, this is what the writer’s study looks like, when the dragon has tried to crowd its way in.
Actually, well over 300 aftershocks. Not all buildings marked “not OK” will be demolished. They are not safe to enter at the moment, but many may be repairable. The initial assessments are just that – initial – given that a lot of buildings have to be checked very quickly.
Of course, the more highly heritage-rated the building, the greater the efforts will be to repair it.
Some writers’ studies look like that all the time 🙂
I was trying to be conservative in my estimate re the number of tremors and aftershocks–as a geologist said after the Boxing Day earthquakes that affected Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia, in particular, so badly: “the earth is ringing like a bell”. OK, there goes a another one—clearly we gotta stick with the ‘shake, rattle & roll’ here!
Sweet Jane’s bar is part of the Henry Africa’s building, which although a local landmark may not even be heritage listed.
Really, re the study? Oh well then … although I remain awed that the red glass vase which you can see on its side on the floor, in one of the photos, took a nose dive off the top of the filing cabinet, yet is completely unscathed.
Got back yesterday and now, with internet access, relising the vastness of the damage.
Love how people in Chch are pulling together and helping each other. Awe inspiring.
Found an account by Wen Baragrey http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38996925/ns/world_news-asiapacific/. Scary.
Hope you both are ok.
Jan, we are all fine, including the cat. Overall, we have gotten off very lightly so far. I know others who are much worse off. But everyone is pulling together and the good news is that the drinking water is ok now—apparently the infrastructure for that stood up really well.
So glad to hear things are inching back to normal… good news re the water, as well. Phew.
It’s still a bit of rolling and swaying back to normal—but I think we are getting there!