After-effects

[vilakins]

I thought Greg's trip down to Christchurch at the end of this week would be cancelled, but apparently the office (and the hotel) are out by the airport and undamaged, and they still want him to go down. I have no idea why, but maybe they want to take their minds off things with a bout of software training.

One of the guys from the Christchurch branch told Greg today that his little boy can't keep his food down and his little girl takes her teddy everywhere. Poor kids.

Greg's sister there isn't coping very well either, sleeping in alternating shifts with her husband and making him wear a visibility vest outside. Another relative's cats are dealing with things in their own way too: one won't go outside and the other won't come in. The frequent aftershocks aren't helping at all, but they're getting weaker.

Comments

[ultrapsychobrat.livejournal.com]

Poor everybody!! Earthquakes, even minor ones let alone MAJOR ones, can be traumatizing. Hope all is okay.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I'd like to echo those words.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks. People seem to be coping to different degrees. The ones worst hit are those with no homes; they're not even allowed to go in to get any of their possessions, It must be so hard. However it's great how some people rise to the occasion, e.g. uni students on Facebook setting up big volunteer groups to dig away all the mud and sand.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I think it will take a while for everyone who can't live in their homes to be helped, but so far people seem to be coping.

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

Wow, such trauma! I guess it makes sense in a place where building fronts fall off. I've never been terribly afraid of quakes, even when we had the big one and freeways collapsed. I wonder if that would've scarred me more if I'd been closer or younger to it.

Hope everyone in CC is okay. :/

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I remember that one, and I'm so glad the Newmarket viaduct is being rebuilt to withstand a really bad earthquake. The other motorway viaducts were built later and to stricter codes.

People are physically OK except for the ones who've drunk contaminated water and have dysentery, but there are still a lot without power and/or water, and without homes at all. That's not easy in what's still basically winter.

I'm more scared of volcanoes here, but Greg assures me that the new early warning network would let us know of a new volcano in time for people in that area to be evacuated.

There's a US seismologist living in Christchurch who made me laugh. His house is damaged and his garden's a mess with sand pushed up from underneath, but he's beside himself with glee seeing all the seismological evidence first hand. :-)

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

We've heard from croquet playing friends in CC, they're OK but their dog started behaving strangely about three hours before it happened.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

One of the people interviewed on TV said her cat went crazy just before it happened. I haven't heard anything else about animals giving a warning.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Jenny won't mind me quoting from her e-mail. it was a bit weird that for the first time ever when finally coaxed off her mat at night she walked forward, dug her nose down between her paws and looked as miserable as she did when she got poisioned. This utterly wimpy behaviour continued until she was curled up in the middle of the bed and refusing to move. I was just worried that she was really ill.

During the earthquake, and for a couple hours after, she was still v frightened. However on realising at 6.30 that the sun was up and that it might conceivably be breakfast time, the labrador instincts kicked in and she started bounding about joyfully.

Will Greg be able to check on his sister while he's down there?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Poor Lab! She seems to have bounced back though.

He's only there for one night, but he should be able to. He hopes the training will finish early enough that he can visit family, all of them in different places though.

[norda.livejournal.com]

These events tend to stick with us a long time.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I remember when I was a kid, a man telling me about his experiences as a child in the 1931 Napier earthquake.

[sheenaghpugh]

Oh, poor souls. Once the immediate news fades from the papers we forget it's still having effects.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

There's still plenty on our news still, with many people without homes or power and water. It's going to take a long time to recover from.

[luinielle.livejournal.com]

I hope the aftershocks will end soon and I hope those who need help will quickly receive it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure there are the resources, but I hope so too. At least the Earthquake Commission has overseas cover so money will be coming in from outside and that will eventually be good for the economy down there.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

For me, these horrors are physically far away but oh, I feel for all who experienced the earthquake, people and animals. I wish the Earth calmed down soon and let you live in peace. So much damage...I also hope there are special resources for these cases. Just take care!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

People are being generous but there isn't a lot of spare cash around. The overseas insurance will help.