Earthquake

You may have heard we were a little shaken up here yesterday morning....

I had put the baby back to sleep after a feed and had just fallen back asleep myself. Suddenly, everything was loud and moving. I'm not really sure what we did. I think I said, "earthquake!" and ran to Quinn's room. Gareth looked out the windows. We obviously need some civil emergency training.

It was 4:35 in the morning and still dark. Gareth said he could see strange lights on the hills behind us, like the aurora australis or something. Probably electrical transformers blowing out?

After about 3 hours (okay, 40 seconds) the shaking stopped. My heart pounded out of my chest. I leaned my forehead against the door frame, panting. Quinn still slept.

Gareth called out from the dining room that the house was trashed. But it really wasn't that bad at all. Pictures had been thrown askew, some jumped off the wall. Stuff fell off the bookcases. The jar of mayo was on its side in the fridge...

We had no power so as soon as the sun came up, we bundled up and went out for a walk. No sense sitting in a cold dark house. We saw lots of people outside talking with their neighbors on the driveway. We saw people out running and biking or walking their dog. We saw almost no earthquake damage. One fallen chimney, one toppled fence. That was about it.

The power came back on around midday and we turned the tv on. This was when we realised that something huge had happened. We saw scenes of total destruction.

Now we're feeling a huge sense of disconnect as we watch the images of our city on tv and the internet. Our neighborhood looks completely normal. Yet all around us there's rubble and liquefaction.

Out there:

Here:

Out there:

In here:

We were so, so lucky.

The aftershocks keep coming. Just felt one as I was typing this. After 30 hours of them, they've gone from terrifying, to worrying, to just annoying. Stop moving, earth. Just stop it now.

My work is in the middle of the city. Judging from what we see on tv, that area was hit pretty hard. I don't know yet if my building is ok, but I suspect it will be as it's sort of newish, at least, new enough to be prepared for earthquakes. I just got a text telling me that we're closing for the week, and "You will be paid."

The prime minister was on tv last night to assure the people of Christchurch that the damage will be covered. We learned there is an Earthquake Commission in New Zealand. Everyone who has house or contents insurance will have their claims paid by the Commission. Mr Key told us that the Commission will cover the first $100,000 of each claim, and our insurance company will pay any claims over and above that amount. (We have nowhere near $100,000 in damage). So that sounds pretty good to us.

So our family is safe, the minor damage to our house will be taken care of, and I get a one-week paid holiday. All's well.