I was in Wanaka at the time of the quake - about 400km south west of Christchurch.

We were awakened by the quake but most people didn't think much of it in Wanaka because it was just a gentle shake. As it turns out, I was scheduled to return to Christchurch the very next day. Most people in Wanaka seemed dissappointed they missed the quake.









By the time I arrived, they had blocked off the entire city centre and no one was allowed in.

Everyone wants to get into the city to take pictures and see the damage but they're quite adamant about keeping people out. A 7am to 7pm curfew was imposed and the military was called in to aid the police in keeping me out, errr I mean people out.

The place is actually in very good spirits and most people seem to just regard it as a fun and exciting adventure.

Good to get a first hand report, even if you were kept at arms length. I don't think it would be the sort of adventure that I would get excited about.

Barrie

Yes, thanks for these squeegee. I've been thinking about this earthquake and wondering if we have any members who were in Christchurch.

Thank goodness, so far there have been no deaths reported!

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~ BB
Flickr photostream

I thought the quake was really bad but after seeing this, it's nice the people had a jolt of adrenaline instead

Glad no one is reported dead yet. Good news and nice photos squeegee.

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It was a pretty good shake in the end of town where we live! Still getting after shocks a few days later. Amazing how few people were injured. The majority of damage is relatively slight, but a lot of it in some areas. Much of us are back to work Monday morning. I put a few snapshots of what our neighborhood looks like up on my flickr site:

Christchurch earthquake 2010 - a set on Flickr


Untitled by msinjin, on Flickr

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GF1 (only), 20mm f1.7 (usually), LVF1 (increasingly)
Contax G 45mm f/2.0 Carl Zeiss Planar T*
Contax G 90mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T*

sinjin, thanks for posting! I knew we had someone from Christchurch but I'm sorry I couldn't remember it was you. Thank goodness you are all OK! I'm going to go look at your Flickr photos right now!

P.S. Very glad to see nothing too bad happened where you lived, but the feeling must have scared you all awake, that's for sure. I've only experienced a very moderate one once here in New York state...it woke me up, knocked over a little table and I thought a war had started... Seriously, I jumped out of bed and ran to the window!

__________________
**An evolving camera owner.

~ BB
Flickr photostream

Sad thing going on in the world with one mishap after another. Good thing no dad casualty!

Yes, it was pretty scary and surreal. I had been in a few minor quakes and so at first I felt as though it was not a big deal. But it just kept going (only for a minute, but it felt like a lot longer at 4 in the morning!) and that's when the mind starts going off on ideas about the end of the world and other hollywood-inspired things. Power was out so it was a good 3-4 hours before we had any idea of the scale of things.

A few days later and it looks like things are still good. Few injuries, no deaths. About 200 people are out of their homes; for them it must be brutal. The community support has been amazing. Now reports about people getting sick from contaminated water are coming in, so we have to be careful about boiling if first.

Thanks for your concern!

Mark

__________________
GF1 (only), 20mm f1.7 (usually), LVF1 (increasingly)
Contax G 45mm f/2.0 Carl Zeiss Planar T*
Contax G 90mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T*