UPATE: Viv’s tourist attraction
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake/4109891/Broken-fenceline-excites-geologists

Dear All,

As you know, Kiwis STAT/AUSSTAT’s offices are based in Christchurch, New Zealand.  However, most of us are more thankful that we are alive, the 7.0 Richter Scale earthquake that woke us at 0435 on Saturday morning was a terrifying experience for most of us. We are pleased to tell you that we are all well, no injuries and have only minor damage to our homes and very little damage to our offices.

This is Vivienne Godfrey’s pantry, she lives in Rolleston –about 20km from the epicentre –although most of us have a similar pantry experience from right across the city (fortunately Briscoes will probably be having a sale sometime soon).

Viv Fitzgerald lives 500m from the epicentre and is amazed her house is still standing! Her property has gained about 3 metres of council land and a shelter belt now has a “whopping great curve in it” and is now a tourist attraction!

Most of us have lost possessions or have had damage to our houses and all know people whose houses are now uninhabitable.  However, through all this most of us care very little about the damage –we all feel like we survived a “near-death” experience and this has given us a whole new perspective. That there were only about 100 injuries –and only 2 serious is an absolute miracle!

Catherine is a Civil Defence volunteer so we are not expecting her back at work for a couple of days –she is bound to have more stories when she returns.

No-one tells you about the aftershocks! Of which there have been many since the earthquake –some over 5.0 on the Richter scale.  It keeps everyone on edge –especially as there are predictions that we can expect a possible aftershock of over 6 in the coming weeks.

There is a lot of damage throughout the city, mainly old buildings built before about 1930 or from the water that welled up from the water table and flooded the streets.  Most of us now have power and phone.  We are boiling our drinking water and sewerage is a bit dodgey as many pipes have been damaged. It’s going to be quite some time before the city is back to normal.

If you are interested in the geology visit the geonet website
For news articles go to
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10671445
For photos around the city go to http://www.crashbang.co.nz/quake040910/index.html

As for AUSSTAT/Kiwis STAT –we are all pretty much back to work and business as usual. If you are wanting work, we would be very happy to help you out.

Thank you for all your thoughts,

From the Team