Best wishes to all in New Zealand

[boba]

Just reported 6.3 in New Zealand.

Hope all are safe.

Orbit, you OK?

[lisa_spyder]

Just heard a couple of live cross interviews on the radio...sounds like a lot of damage in the centre of Christchurch .

[lisa_spyder]

Watching Sky News...lots of damage. The entire steeple of the Cathedral in the centre of Christchurch has collapsed and the worry is there are people trapped under the rubble. Buildings down, roads buckled, gas pipes ruptured, cars cruched...city was busy as it was lunchtime.

Kudos to the emergency services...within minutes the fire brigade had sky cranes and heavy equipment in and ready to go for rescues.

Like the Sky News reporters who are interviewing as many people as they can and asking them for their full names, where they work etc. It will help family and friends to know these people are safe.

[JeremyD]

brent russell in christchurch - hope he's ok

[Matt Smith]

This is not good. Fatalities rising, state of emergency declared. Prime Minister says it may well be 'New Zealand's darkest day'.

Australia has offerered NZ anything it needs, and US have offered support also. Specialist rescue teams due to arrive from Australia by midnight NZTime to help our rescue teams and Army to find trapped people.

Although the earthquake was a lower Richter magnitude than the one they endured in September 2011, this one was much closer to the surface (5km?) and has caused massive devastation. Our heart goes out to the citizens of Christchurch. They have already endured so much.

[Bill Douglas]

Sadly the news is not good. 65 dead and the numbers are rising.

Oddly it is a completely different earthquake to the one a few months ago. This one is only 5 kilometers (3 miles) below the surface and centered in Lyttleton. Whereas the other one was about 30kms below the surface and cetntered in a different area. Last week in Christchurch I saw lots of minor to moderate damage from the previous quake, and enjoyed a great day in Lyttleton whereas now Lyttleton is being described as being uninhabitable.

[Matt Smith]

Bill, the news from Lyttleton is very sparse. I've got several mates who live there and have yet to hear anything. Cells are down though.

Just heard on news reports offers of specialist assistance from USA, UN, European Union and Israel and Japan.

[dd74]

Thoughts go out to you from here in Los Angeles. I've been through a few of these earthquakes, and can honestly say I've never experienced anything more frightening, particularly because it was beyond my control.

Best wishes.

[Bill Douglas]

Lyttleton really was very knocked around looking last week. Lots of buildings with RSJ constructions to stop the fronts of buildings falling onto the streets, and that was before this one that is centered in Lyttleton - gulp.

The Australians have search and rescure teams in the air ready to join our teams who are on the ground now. The Japons a very good at this stuff. Thanks to all of them.

The TV is showing them pulling bodies out of the CTV building right now.

[lisa_spyder]

Have had Sky News on all afternoon.

Anyone who even dares to criticise the efforts of the emergency services this afternoon should have their heads read. Your guys have done an amazing job under very, very difficult circumstances. The speed of the response really amazed me. Christchurch is not a 'big' place; population circa 350,000 (?). When they ran out of ambulances, the police used their vehicles to ferry the injured. When they ran out of police vehicles, the public brought in their 4wds, utes and station wagons. Amazing and wonderful sense of community...

It is really heartbreaking to see such icons as the Cathedral; which survived the 'big one' in September last year so badly damaged. It's like the heart of the city has been ripped out .

Hoping and praying for miracles now...reported over 200 still trapped in fallen buildings.

Worrying is that there is no news out of Lyttleton and Brighton (is it?) as well as yet...saw some footage out of Sumner...horrible devastation there.

[lisa_spyder]

The TV is showing them pulling bodies out of the CTV building right now.

Hell Bill...

That building was just absolutely flattened

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by lisa_spyder

Hell Bill...

That building was just absolutely flattened

And ones near it were OK. It was Canturbury (the name of the region) Television who are a small, well meaning bunch or people doing TV for the locals.

[oldE]

Prayers said for all.

Les

[JeremyD]

I did hear from Brent and he is ok.

[GothingNC]

My prayers go out to everyone out there.

The region out there has been going through too many natural catastrophes in a short period of time

[MattKellett]

The house of my B-I-L's sister was total flattened but luckily they were all outside at the time.

My prayers and thoughts go out to all our Kiwi friends and hope they too are safe and that the rescue teams manage to bring more to safety.

[J1NX3D]

This link shows how bad it and the successive aftershocks have been:
Christchurch Quake Map

i just got to Egypt this week to serve with the MFO for 6 months in the Sinai. Still trying to get over the jetlag but we were all up at 4am this morning when we got news. for a lot of the guys they are being frustrated by lack of news from home- mainly from lack of power/cellphone towers. Facebook has been a bit of a godsend for getting hold of people, as has CNN streaming TV3s live coverage.

I'm still waiting to hear if my grandparents and some extended family are ok. I'm sure they are, its just they can't be raised on cellphones yet.

the lastest i've seen is that Lyttleton and Brighton are there, they're just blacked out + structural damage and busted pipes.

most of the footage i've seen has been of the CBD. this video really brought it home to us how bad it was:
Aftermath of Christchurch quake | Stuff.co.nz

another from the air
VIDEO: Helicopter footage from Lyttleton post-quake - National - Video - 3 News

just waiting now for NZ to wake to a new day for more news, i hope its a lot better.

these photos were the first i saw of Sumner Beach which shows the Shag Rock has collapsed.

before


after shows one of the airforces P-3K Orions circling

[J1NX3D]

Aussie speaks from under NZ quake rubble

[Bill Douglas]

New Zealand have the people with the skills, and the equipment to get survivors out but it's a more complicated process than going in with bulldozers. So individuals are frustrated by the process. Sadly some people have been so badly crushed that there have been a number of amputations of arms and legs.

Why the earthquake was so devastating is because it was so shallow and it did a big "left and rifght" other than the usual "up and down".

With recure teams from other countries helping more buildings will be cleared sooner.

It will be a bad and slow recovery for the city though as New Zealand has a very fragile economy at the moment.

[J1NX3D]

This pic was reportedly taken seconds after the shake.


good to see some friends and familiar faces in this clip. i really wish i was there to help load aid

Air Force working round the clock in Christchurch - Campbell Live - Video - 3 News