Yet another earthquake update
Feb. 28th, 2011 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rumpelsnorcackI went to a funeral today. Here's hoping that's the only one I'll be attending in the near future because it was pretty harrowing.
This won't be a long post; I'm not really up to it today, but there are a few links I want to share. Some are happy, some are terrible. All touched me in some way.
First, there's this facebook page. It shows some of our central city icons before and after the quake. I find it quite harrowing to look at - especially the ANZ Chambers building. I remember after the last quake driving down that street and admiring that building, happy to see it still standing with no visible cracking or anything. To see it imploded like that is just ... well, I can't really describe what it feels like to see that building like that. As for the cathedral, well that one is just too hard to bear, especially knowing there are people under there. I wrote this comment back in September as I shared some pictures of the first quake:
I want to share some pictures of my city, both before and after the quake. First, is the iconic building of the city: The Cathedral. We aren't a religious society at all and most people don't even think of the Cathedral as a church even though it is an operational Anglican church. But despite that the Cathedral is the heart of the city both geographically and emotionally. Cathedral Square is pretty much in the heart of the centre of town and the cathedral is the heart of the square. When the rest of the country gets linked to Christchurch, it is the cathedral that they use as the image to represent us. They have found cracks in the cathedral's tower section and there is a risk of falling masonry in aftershocks. Thankfully it has had extensive earthquake strengthening and should be safe, because if we lost the cathedral I'm pretty sure a lot of people would find it very hard to cope.
A lot of people are saying exactly the same thing. They call the cathedral the 'broken heart' of the city. Last time it was a symbol of hope, of defiance, of how strong we were as a city. This time it is a symbol of our heartbreak. I am not looking forward to seeing it in person - in pictures it's hard enough.
Next up is a couple of things that are a bit happier. This song is a little ironic now, but I'm still enjoying it. And this picture sums up the attitude of a lot of the city. We are strong, we will survive, we will recover. It will just take time.
I can't really cope with anything else tonight, but I also found this comment I wrote in the first week after the quake. It breaks my heart a little to remember those days and to realise that we'd got past this feeling - and that perhaps we really shouldn't have.
We are all sleepless and nervy, waiting for the next aftershock to come. Every night we are still jolted awake at least twice by large shocks and none of them has been 'the big one' of around 6 that they keep predicting. We thought we had it this morning. The quake that rumbled through here had the kids terrified and went on for ages (though nowhere near as long as the one on Saturday), but it was apparently only a 5.1. It was much closer to the city (and in the other direction) and very shallow and that's why we felt it so much worse, but the worry is that the big one will hit again and do more damage.
What's terrifying about that is that aftershock (known as 'the big one' around here til the Boxing Day shake eclipsed it) is that it was centred almost exactly where Tuesday's one hit. That comment gives me disturbing shivers now. It hits far too close to home.
Edit: I forgot to add this picture. It was taken moments after the quake hit and shows the extent of the damage to the CBD - that dust cloud is our entire central city going poof all at once.
This won't be a long post; I'm not really up to it today, but there are a few links I want to share. Some are happy, some are terrible. All touched me in some way.
First, there's this facebook page. It shows some of our central city icons before and after the quake. I find it quite harrowing to look at - especially the ANZ Chambers building. I remember after the last quake driving down that street and admiring that building, happy to see it still standing with no visible cracking or anything. To see it imploded like that is just ... well, I can't really describe what it feels like to see that building like that. As for the cathedral, well that one is just too hard to bear, especially knowing there are people under there. I wrote this comment back in September as I shared some pictures of the first quake:
I want to share some pictures of my city, both before and after the quake. First, is the iconic building of the city: The Cathedral. We aren't a religious society at all and most people don't even think of the Cathedral as a church even though it is an operational Anglican church. But despite that the Cathedral is the heart of the city both geographically and emotionally. Cathedral Square is pretty much in the heart of the centre of town and the cathedral is the heart of the square. When the rest of the country gets linked to Christchurch, it is the cathedral that they use as the image to represent us. They have found cracks in the cathedral's tower section and there is a risk of falling masonry in aftershocks. Thankfully it has had extensive earthquake strengthening and should be safe, because if we lost the cathedral I'm pretty sure a lot of people would find it very hard to cope.
A lot of people are saying exactly the same thing. They call the cathedral the 'broken heart' of the city. Last time it was a symbol of hope, of defiance, of how strong we were as a city. This time it is a symbol of our heartbreak. I am not looking forward to seeing it in person - in pictures it's hard enough.
Next up is a couple of things that are a bit happier. This song is a little ironic now, but I'm still enjoying it. And this picture sums up the attitude of a lot of the city. We are strong, we will survive, we will recover. It will just take time.
I can't really cope with anything else tonight, but I also found this comment I wrote in the first week after the quake. It breaks my heart a little to remember those days and to realise that we'd got past this feeling - and that perhaps we really shouldn't have.
We are all sleepless and nervy, waiting for the next aftershock to come. Every night we are still jolted awake at least twice by large shocks and none of them has been 'the big one' of around 6 that they keep predicting. We thought we had it this morning. The quake that rumbled through here had the kids terrified and went on for ages (though nowhere near as long as the one on Saturday), but it was apparently only a 5.1. It was much closer to the city (and in the other direction) and very shallow and that's why we felt it so much worse, but the worry is that the big one will hit again and do more damage.
What's terrifying about that is that aftershock (known as 'the big one' around here til the Boxing Day shake eclipsed it) is that it was centred almost exactly where Tuesday's one hit. That comment gives me disturbing shivers now. It hits far too close to home.
Edit: I forgot to add this picture. It was taken moments after the quake hit and shows the extent of the damage to the CBD - that dust cloud is our entire central city going poof all at once.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-28 03:31 pm (UTC)*more hugs*
(I'd had some more thoughts on your characters, btw, and was going to write them up when this new quake happened. At which point I wasn't sure if thinking about your story might be a good diversion or just salt in the wound.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-28 08:41 pm (UTC)Please do send through any thoughts on the characters. The story is on hold for now but I might revisit it in time,and if your thoughts happen to make me cry then that's a good thing. I haven't cried enough yet and I'd love to hear what you think.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-01 02:05 am (UTC)I'm sorry the funeral was so harrowing. And I'm so so sorry that your beloved city is suffering so. *massive hugs*
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-01 08:57 am (UTC)