Another big quake hits New Zealand

[Big Phil]

My wife and I were thinking about heading there later this year for a belated honeymoon...

Not sure I want to go there now, that's 2 big ones* in a 6 month period...

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/new-quake ... 6009956823

[Gingernuts]

How's the photo of the cathedral??!!

Some earthquake by the looks of things.

[JK]

Doesn't sound good at all, multiple fatalities reported already .. Geez the Kiwi's have taken a battering within the last 12 months with the previous earthquake and mining tragedy.

Really feel for them.

[Sky Pilot]

I've been following Sky News, Fox News and CNN since 6.30am. Sky broke the story within minutes of happening and Fox broke into their regular program about 15 minutes later. CNN kept running other stories until someone must have landed the carrier pigeon on their roof in Atlanta or Hong Kong. Now they are all over it.

[Gingernuts]

Footage on the abc website looks pretty serious.

[Sky Pilot]

Another new tax levy coming up across the Pond

[Booney]

Another new tax levy coming up across the Pond

Yes, good insensitive timing demonstrated here.

[Sky Pilot]

Another new tax levy coming up across the Pond

Yes, good insensitive timing demonstrated here.

what are you on about?

[Booney]

Another new tax levy coming up across the Pond

Yes, good insensitive timing demonstrated here.

what are you on about?

Well, you see, people have been killed today. At this stage, perhaps people ( work colleagues ) whom I know, or in fact other people on this site may know, so to trivialise the matter by saying "another new tax coming" is, in my view, a little insensitive at this very, very early stage.

[westcoastpanther]

Thanks for that Booney, I have family there and we still haven't heard from one...

[Sky Pilot]

Another new tax levy coming up across the Pond

Yes, good insensitive timing demonstrated here.

what are you on about?

Well, you see, people have been killed today. At this stage, perhaps people ( work colleagues ) whom I know, or in fact other people on this site may know, so to trivialise the matter by saying "another new tax coming" is, in my view, a little insensitive at this very, very early stage.

Yeah sorry. I see you're still spitting iced coffee on your screen with laughter on another topic so I guess your mood changes from page to page

[Brucetiki]

was watching some of the footage from Channel 9 (who is showing the TV3 coverage from New Zealand).

If you haven't seen any footage of it yet, it's bad, really bad. That's the simplest way of putting it. You have to see the damage to believe it, the city has ran out of ambulances (TV3/9 were showing footage of the injured being loaded into cars), the emergency services number is down. I'd expect the death toll to rise in this pretty quickly as they search through the rubble.

A truly tragic situation occuring over there and my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Christchurch atm.

[A Mum]

I didn't realise it was so bad

Have just finished my work - am going to turn the telly on now.

My thoughts are also with the people in Christchurch and any fellow safooty.net people who may have family and friends over there

[Sky Pilot]

I agree 100%. It is absolutely dreadful. I have friends over their but they ware in Wellington so they are okay.
The vision coming out of Sky News is first class. Seeing people being rescued by the firemen is awesome

[Booney]

Yeah sorry. I see you're still spitting iced coffee on your screen with laughter on another topic so I guess your mood changes from page to page

Well, some things I find ammusing, some things I dont. Nothing too odd about that, is there?

Anyway - * thread back on track *

Any news WCP?

[westcoastpanther]

Yeah sorry. I see you're still spitting iced coffee on your screen with laughter on another topic so I guess your mood changes from page to page

Well, some things I find ammusing, some things I dont. Nothing too odd about that, is there?

Anyway - * thread back on track *

Any news WCP?

Not yet, my Mum was on the phone to them and they said they hadn't heard from their eldest when the phone dropped out and nothing since

[White Line Fever]

[Brucetiki]

The story so far - from http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/eart ... 6009957590

+ A magnitude 6.3 earthquake rocks Christchurch at 12.51pm local time (1051 AEDT).
+ GNS Science said the quake struck 20km southeast of Christchurch, at a depth of 5km.
+ Police have confirmed there have been "multiple fatalities".
+ Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says several people in the city council building had been injured.
+ The national crisis management centre has been activated.
+ People in the area are being warned to expect aftershocks.
+ Prime Minister John Key has addressed parliament, says he will travel to Christchurch after an emergency cabinet meeting at 3pm (1700 AEDT).
+ The spire of the Christchurch Cathedral has collapsed.
+ The TVNZ building in Christchurch had reportedly collapsed.
+ Christchurch airport was closed.
+ Police were evacuating the city centre, using their cars to ferry the injured as ambulances failed to cope with demand.
+ Reports say several buildings in the CBD have collapsed, and witnesses say people are trapped underneath.
+ Roads have buckled.
+ Water pipes have burst on the street; residents have been warned not to drink the water.
+ Phone lines are reportedly down.
+ It's the region's second major quake since Canterbury was hit on September 4, 2010, by a 7.1 magnitude quake.
+ The September 4 quake caused extensive damage and a handful of injuries, but no deaths.
+ Thousands of aftershocks have since rattled the region.

[Squawk]

People are being asked to

avoid calling/texting Southland if at all possible
if necessary, then text rather than call.
Call only if absolutely necessary.

The Southland telephone network is under enormous duress.

[Squawk]

I sense this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. The quake has happened at a time when people are concentrated in office buildings and cafes on a working day of the week. This quake was shallower than the Canterbury quake of Sept 4 2010, and centred closer to Christchurch (at Lyttleton). Pancaked buildings, flattened cars, rock falls etc. Fire could be another problem, along with broken water/sewerage pipes so health risks will quickly become apparent in coming days.