Christchurch, anyone?

why is this sentence so funny to me?

Yeah, I've just come across Dave via Galaxy, so he's one of the few people I recognise around here.

"jolene" i thought was a bad move for those guys or in particular that singer tho', she just can't reach any of the notes.

She stood on stage wearing a black dress with her hair very elaborately done, cradling the microphone in her hands and staring at the ground. Obviously quite shy about the whole thing, she'd sing very quietly for much of the time but whenever the music got loud and when Mick was really ripping out the lead guitar, she'd just go for it--singing very loudly and passionately, however out of tune.

what did those bumsz have to say about me, those bums?!

They just made you sound very enigmatic, I suppose. Hah.

Do tell, Di...

Pretty horrifying:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4688231/Deaths-destruction-in-Christchurch-quake

Canterbury's been tortured this past few months, just horrible.

65 confirmed dead :/

so relieved to have heard from my friend earlier today

sigh

these quakes go on and on and on and people are nerve-wracked for months and then this happens, biggest possible kick to the guts

yeah a lot of ppl hadn't even gotten the damage to their houses/businesses fixed from the last quake, so everything was so vulnerable.

man, people will be on edge for years now, the scale of the ongoing trauma is inconceivable

shit, that's awful

heyo, it's pretty terrible here - been watching the news all afternoon/evening, pretty distressed

my gf's friend's family is in Christchurch and we don't know how they are :/

ah man

so very sorry man, all the best of luck with gf's family

gf's friend's family I mean, sorry

i talked to my sister and she is okay but it sounds horrible. i was really afraid while waiting to hear from her, i couldn't stop trembling, we are very very close. now we're waiting to hear about extended family and friends.

My family lives there. All are OK, but most people's homes are wrecked - it's dark now, and a lot of people don't know where to go.

Oh god estela you poor thing. Thinking of you and hope that you get all good news very very soon.

paulhw: 'Most' people's homes are wrecked? Really? Is that the status right now? Sorry for the questions, we're getting streaming TVNZ news coverage but of course they're scrambling for information themselves. Great news about your family btw.

thanks aa. paulhw, i hope your family are managing. the last i heard it was raining quite heavily, which is awful when people are gathered in parks and wandering the streets not knowing what to do. my sister and her partner and cat are going to sleep in their car, their house is quite damaged and there are strong aftershocks so they feel unsafe in there.

This is just terrible :(

This looked horrible on the news - hope everyone's people turn out to be happily accounted for.

sincerely hope yr ppl are safe lj

hope everyone gets good news.

My cousin's there atm but safe.

aa: I'm getting differing information - I guess it depends on how people gauge damaged / wrecked etc. Of the 10 friends I've emailed or IMed today about this, 5 of them have families that can't stay in their house tonight. There's a lot more structural damage than in the September earthquake. Electricity and water are still out for most people - 80% of the city apparently. I guess it'll be easier to tell when it's light tomorrow - although with 20 aftershocks so far, people may be afraid to venture far...

I've been to CC once, it seemed like the most mellow, well-run city. The devastation is hard to imagine. Real shame.

this site is great if you are looking for ppl AND if you have info about ppl's whereabouts: http://christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com/

nadz (my bf) is completely freaked out, their house is wrecked, i guess her and her bf and their dog are sleeping in their van?? but true to her nature she still has a sense of humour (xp'ed from facebook updates thread):

Imagine if you will mass chaos, people waking, biking and driving, trying get out of the city. They've got back packs, prams loaded up, and vans filled. Amongst all this is a tranny mincing along in her heels, taking her time and carrying her most important possession: a 12 pack of Flame beer. Awesome.

I applauded her from our van and she flicked her hair and winked at me.

i like this (from the stuff.co.nz latest info article):

10.05pm: Hundreds of Wellingtonians opened their homes to passengers stranded at the airport after the quake caused disruption to air services. Airport authorities said they had found beds for all passengers who wanted them.

Thanks for filling me in paulhw. God, this is incredible. I'm hearing a lot of stories like yours just1n3 about people sleeping in their cars.

As chap said chch is such a quiet and orderly place, it's incomprehensible to think all this has happened.

Just saw footage of a bloke speaking to his wife on her mobile (she was trapped in a bathroom), and the TVNZ reporter immediately stopping the report to take him to a fire official. THAT'S how it's done, world.

Can we get that guy to teach the rest of the world how to report on disaster? Sincerely applauding that guy right now and wishing well to all involved.

The Melvins and High on Fire are currently stranded at the Christchruch airport.

at least they're alive... thoughts going out to y'all with loved ones over there

Ooh the melvins are meant to be playing with primus here shortly I imagine a friend of mine will be unhappy if that doesnt happen but given the circs geez.

26-storey Grand Chancellor hotel about to collapse

Glad LJ is safe,hope everyones friends/families are safe. Thoughts go out to you all.

26-storey Grand Chancellor hotel about to collapse

!!! shit!

http://twitpic.com/42qbbt

thank you darragh.

yeah echoing what everyones said. i went to university in dunedin so i know this area p well + its just crazy + terrible to imagine this

I've been there twice and I know loads of people there. Fortunately they're all directly unaffected, but of course there are infrastructure issues, and none of them are talking about people they know who have died or suffered (we haven't asked, of course).

(and yes it's an undeniably gorgeous and characterful place)

thank you ned. you went there, didn't you?

I had hoped to, but plans fell through during my 2002 visit, ah well. I know friends who have been, though, and I remember flying over it during my trip. The setting seemed quite spectacular.

yes, it's really beautiful.

my boss had a house in Christchurch which was destroyed. I spoke to him last night he's flying over in the next couple of days to sort shit out, he was unsurprisingly pretty emotional :( Some of his family still lived there but luckily no one was home when it happened

So harrowing every time I click on this thread, I got a heavy heavy heart for all of you affected by this.

Just after the quake:

http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef014e864375ad970d-pi

two incredible ppl i know are in chch to help out the mother of one them - they posted to facebook today that they have a car and supplies and if anybody wants them to check up on someone they can't find, they're happy to do it on their behalf.

A lot of these stories really are just the saddest:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-new-zealand-quake-20110224,0,297881.story

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4697308/Christchurch-quake-226-missing-98-dead

- more than 100 people have died in one building alone, the TV building.

A bunch of the people missing in the CTV building are my good friend's students, who were there on the second or third day of a short study abroad trip to learn English. It's just a devastating loss for his school (which also happens to be my wife's alma mater) and the city he lives in. Not to distract from the tremendous loss to the community of Christchurch, but it just seems extra cruel and unfair that those kids had to be there at that exact time.

Yeah I noticed that and was horrified, i mean dying unexpectedly overseas away from yr loved ones is incomprehensibly awful. Makes me afraid of going anywhere.

And now more quakes, no lives lost but damage and injuries again. Jeez.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/5159391/Red-zone-Like-a-war-zone

some photos of how terrible this is.

my sister is there, i really wish she wasn't.

: (

yes. thank you.

<3

aw estela, hugs :((

i am talking to her on the phone right now and we are laughing out loudly in spite of everything.

Life and our security in it is such a fragile thing, really. I cant imagine how she and everyone there must feel right now, but my heart breaks.

thank you people for your kind thoughts.

i don't know how up to date the counter was but i just read they've had 7469 earthquakes/aftershocks since sept 4.

please send good thoughts that her house will be written off and she'll get enough insurance to cover her mortgage so she can leave, that is our hope.

dearestela,

this is wrenching. i am just sick at the thought of what it must be like to be there, and at the images of such a beautiful city having been demolished. i have such lovely memories of walking around right there in those places, on those streets, now shattered. what it must feel like for you and yours, i cannot fathom.

i hope she can leave very soon. be safe, sister.

love you,
lxy

hope my cousin is ok. Better check facebook!

A couple of weeks ago I met someone at work who left chch after the recent big one. It was so sad seeing her explain that they had to leave and can't go back.

A few of my old friends are still there. One couple's already planning to come back to Melbourne and another's organising a move to Invercargill.

i really hope your sister gets out, estela!

my best friend is trying to figure out what her and her bf are gonna do - he works at the university and she's still in school. they were actually planning on buying a house there until the 2nd quake in feb.

ah - cousin ok! but rattled

Didn't know that much of the Christchurch city center was still off limits. Photos here: http://www.abandonedjourney.com/abandoned-city

i'm here for the first time since the earthquakes and more of the central city has been opened up recently, though parts are still off limits, and you can be in a street you knew well and have no idea of where you are because the landmarks have gone and the skylines are altered and there are so few people around in the city and there are so many broken buildings and empty lots and detours and cordons and fences. you have a memory map of the city that you try to lay over the new landscape but it seems confusing and wrong, and you feel impatient as if it's an unpleasant dream that's going on a bit too long, and wherever you go there's more and more and more damage and you get sick of hearing yourself cry out because you understand your reactions and feelings have no weight. yesterday i was very close to my old home and didn't realise until i recognised the little bridge we were driving over.
however life continues and people are reimagining and recreating and rebuilding things so there is a lot to be hopeful about once you get through the sorrow of the place you loved being altered forever. the last time i was here, on the final evening, i stood on a balcony with my dying cousin and we were admiring the view and i thought, it must be so strange and awful for him to look at all this and know he will be gone soon but it will all continue, never realising i wouldn't be seeing it again either.

Damn, estela.

But if there is hope as you say, then let it flourish.

<3 estela, i hope your sister is managing ok

<3 thank you, she is fine and her house has been repaired (many haven't). it is a solid little wooden house built in the 40s and her land held up especially well for the area she lives in, which took quite a hit. things could have been a lot worse.

thanks for sharing that, very moving account

aw geez estela

<3 etc

thanks chaps<3

<3

nice piece in The Wire this month about the musical community in Christchurch (inc Bruce Russell) and their response to the earthquakes - makes gd companion reading to estela's post, cos again there is hope, resilience, determination

kia kaha, estela

arohanui, lxy

thoughts

Yeah, same.

Seems like everyone I know (in Wellington, natch) is just fine. Had a decent scare this morning when I heard about it.

dammit

warning downgraded for much of the country, two dead so far:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/new-zealand-tsunami-feared-live-9251551

Biggest quake I've ever felt in Wellington - long, rolling quake rather than the more usual short sharp shocks. Our ex-Christchurch flatmate was in tears, and since we're on higher ground we had some friends of our French flatmate that were on the eight floor of a hostel on reclaimed land downtown come and stay the night. Glad the tsunami warning's passed.

glad ppl are ok. scary shit

this has been the best week ever

my family and friends are all okay so far as i know but fuck

is justin3 in nz right now, had a notion she might be?

she's back in the us, posted on fb this morning

thanks vg, i'm very glad to know that

I'm safe and so are my friends and whanau

Spoke to my BFF last night - she lives in chch and was there for the last two big quakes. Thought she might've been retraumatized but she said she's so jaded about the whole thing that it doesn't phase her anymore