Have been full on.
7.45am on Saturday morning my parents ring me telling me not to panic that they are okay and so is the house. WTF! They live in Christchurch, New Zealand which was hugely damaged in a earthquake at 4.35am NZT Saturday morning.
Now I don't put the TV on in the morning or listen to the radio on the weekends when I get up, that makes it seem to much like a work day. I grab the paper and a cuppa and go and sit out the back and have some me time - so naturally I didn't know anything about the earthquake and probably wouldn't have till the mid morning when I started getting sms's from my friends asking if everything was okay with my parents.
My parents, relatives and friends have all come through relatively unscathed apart from some breakages in the home. Thank god for facebook as it makes checking up on people so much easier especially since the phone lines where not reliable.
The sad thing for me was seeing pictures on the news and online of my hometown and the damage it sustained. Many of the heritage buildings have gone or will have to be demolished. It looks like the church where my parents were married sustained substantial damage. The city I grew up and loved to go back and visit is really not there anymore and never will be................
This earthquake is on a par with the one that destroyed the NZ town of Napier in the early 1930's. This whole town was destroyed and rebuilt in the style of the time which was Art Deco and now famous for this. But this will not happen to Christchurch, how can 21st century architecture replace buildings that have been around since the town was settled/built in the mid 1800's.
Please keep the people of Christchurch in your thoughts as this morning (Tuesday here in the southern hemisphere) they are still getting aftershocks of over 5.
These images are taken from various news sources on the internet.
