Christchurch earthquake.

Yeah, this is very bad - @8.30pm Tuesday night, 65 confirmed dead. They expect many more.

Darkness is falling, temps are dropping and it is raining - gonna be a very tough night for those in the Canterbury / Christchurch area. After shocks are still happening.

Telecommunications are stressed but if you have friends and / or family in ChCh, please try to get in touch.

News networks are asking that people use TXT messaging and social networking sites to communicate rather than making actual calls - Telco's are fully overloaded as it is.

Yes a really good shake up this time.  Only 6.3, but more importantly only 5km deep, and centered in Lyttelton, just over the port hills from ChCh.
The ceiling tiles and lights fell down at work, so I'm now working from home for at least the end of the week.  The schools look like they will be closed for the rest of the week as well even though the majority are unscathed. Certainly my 2 dont seem unhappy about that!
It is strangely surreal watching the events unfold on tv, knowing it is happening in your own back yard so to speak.
It was a different shock wave than than September - more violent, but seemed to be in a vertical plane more than the September shock.  In September around 15,000 litres of water was washed out of the swimming pool, but hardly a drop today.
Architecturally speaking, the turn last century buildings that survived September are know almost completely gone, or are so badly damaged that will most likely have to be torn down.

The Naim survived, with only the top of my Allae's jumping out of it's pips, but the aftershocks proved too much for the LP12 to track, so sadly had to stop my son from playing records.  The live tv feeds however were more compelling anyway.

Cheers
Pete

However it is now 10:00PM, it is dark, cold and wet with still many people trapped in the ruined buildings.
Thousands are leaving the city, and the media are estimating 200 to 400 lives may be lost.
God Speed.

We survived but the house suffered some minor damage and my Proac's need a visit to the furniture repairers :-(

But there is a tragedy in the making here; hundreds potentially dead.

I expect no water/sewer for weeks.

It'll be messy here for a while but out of ashes....

Very philosophical take on this tragedy James, sorry about the Proacs but best wishes to all on the other side,
Charlie

Best wishes to our Kiwi cousins in this terrible tragedy.

Incredible scenes of destruction in a beautiful city.

My thoughts are with our friends down under.

49 Quakes  http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/   Devastating


You can see it hit here (select the date as 22/02 and slow it down around midday using the 'back' button

You have all our sympathies and our pryers for those still trapped. unfortunately this is all we can do from here.

wow that's fascinating.  Something big is happening.  Too bad about the old buildings.  I'm sure there's no sleep in the swarms and little rest over the past few months.

I've been in multiple quakes here in LA but nothing like that.  Good luck.