Wednesday, June 22, 2011

When Will It End?

Christchurch is again in the news with further tremors felt today. It must be very hard to try to go about your normal day when you've had a sleepless night due to severe earth tremors and wondering if this one will bring your home down. Parents report making a dash for their children in the night in case there is structural damage to their home.
The AAP News report said:

CHRISTCHURCH has been again been rattled overnight by a swarm of powerful aftershocks, knocking out power and forcing the closure of the city's airport.

  • "It felt like one of the largest quakes we've had."
A number of aftershocks have struck the already quake-battered region including a 5.3 magnitude tremor, which struck at 8.34pm (AEST) at a depth of 10 kilometres.

One Christchurch resident told the New Zealand Herald that the quake came suddenly and brought a "violent rattling".

"It built in intensity and then the lights went out. It felt like one of the largest quakes we've had."

The quake was the largest to hit the region since magnitude 5.7 and 6.3 quakes last Monday and was followed by at least a dozen more aftershocks of magnitude 3.1 or greater centred around the city.

New Zealand's GeoNet monitoring service said the tremors were felt across the city, which has suffered three major quakes in the past nine months, including a 6.0 tremor on June 13 and devastating 6.3 quake in February that killed 181 people.

Police said there were no reports of major damage after the latest scare, although the Christchurch Press and Radio New Zealand said power supplies were down in a number of suburbs.

Christchurch airport said its terminal was evacuated after the tremor and runways were being inspected for damage.

The airport also closed briefly after the June 13 quake but reopened after a few hours.

Quake-weary residents of New Zealand's second largest city are stressed from the constant aftershocks, describing living in Christchurch as "purgatory".

"We do not know when the next one's coming, it's a recipe for people to collapse," a resident said.

The latest tremors come as New Zealand Prime Minister John Key revealed on Monday the bill from the Christchurch earthquakes had soared to $19.22 billion, far more than previously th

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/christchurch-rocked-by-51-aftershock/story-e6frfkyi-1226079554118#ixzz1PzqjmI6r
I hope and pray that these tremors stop soon so they can start to recover and feel safe in their homes again. The quilt shown is made from blocks donated by Cat in New Zealand. I used the leftover block and siggy squares on the back when I pieced a backing for the quilt and it will be soon winging its way back across the Tasman to be donated to someone in Christchurch. I've finished 6 quilts for them so far this week and plan to post a box of quilts off this week as soon as I find a large enough box.
I hope that the quilts will bring some comfort to their spirit as well as their communities as they try to re-build their city.
Many thanks for all your help with donations.
Hugs, Jan Mac

3 comments:

kaiteM said...

good coverage Jan, well written.

Cat said...

You've done my quilt blocks proud Jan -
They were blocks from my online Fresh and Funky BEE - I had an idea and then when they came together it wasn't what I imagined, however, you've put them together to be such an amazing quilt which I'm sure someone in Christchurch will cherish forever xxx

Cat said...

http://deb-robertson.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-not-just-water-and-food-you-need-in.html

Deb's blog has some photos and posts re how a family of 6 are coping in Christchurch.
I was very lucky to meet the lovely Deb whilst I was in Christchurch