..for not posting for a bit. I was just recovering from a nasty little virus when we got hit by a 7.1 strength earthquake centered about 30 km from home. at about 4.40 am on Saturday morning our time. Scary stuff.All is well though. Just got electriciy and the internet back on and will fill you in with some details when I have caught up on some sleep.
Cheers
Neil

Well you didn't have to go to all that trouble just to get a nap!

I hope you have not got it as bad as the folks in town. The news is showing some severe damage and destroyed buildings but thankfully reporting no loss of life.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2010 03:45PM by Jerry.

Hey - any excuse to keep from shooting ... ... hahaha,

Glad you didn't get too shook up. Sounds frightening.

You best have some comfort snacks and hit the sack. ;?)

GAry

Hi Neil:

My wife and I visited Christchurch for several days during our honeymoon and saw it got hit pretty hard. Hope you guys are OK.

-- Jim

Thanks guys
Well we're not out of the woods yet. There have been over 100 aftershocks, and last night alone there were 14, with 2 as high as 5.4 on the Richter scale. So sleep is still at a premium and nerves are getting a little frayed! Went to work yesterday, though not much was done as most people are still at home. Fun and games!
Cheers
Neil

Hey Neil! It's been a bit, I hope things are getting better....

Hi Jerry and guys
Well, it has been interesting to say the least. We have had around 350 aftershocks, averaging 2 per hour since the initial Saturday morning quake. Estimated $4 billion damage to our city, with around 100,000 homes affected. It is fair to say this has been entirely unexpected, as the fault line that caused all of this has been hidden for at least 16,000 years, but has now made its presence truly felt! The quakes are coming from all up and down the fault line, and at varying depths and therefore severity. Yesterday morning there was a shallow one close to the city which damaged some more buildings and caused a few more hearts to flutter.
Here's some pics from around my work building. Below is the view down the street, with my work on the right, the 4 storey building caught by the sun, behind the tree, undamaged fortunately (oops, there goes another aftershock right now as I type).

Directly across the road is this wrecked historic Children's Theatre building

and 2 door down this warehouse which was condemned yesterday, so now there are wire gates right across the road blocking it to traffic for now

One destructive phenomenon has been sand volcanoes created by liquefaction, where the shaking of the initial quake mixed water with silt and sand and forced it to the surface, in the cases below erupting through and cracking our carpark at back of our building.



Howver this level of damage is minor. In the suburbs entire streets and back yards have been overwhelmed by silt due to this phenomenon, let alone all of the damage caused by the shaking and splitting of the earth. Here's a link to some of the other damage around the place: [www.stuff.co.nz]]
You know what is amazing, not one life lost as best we know. That is some sort of miracle....
So, I have been just a wee bit preoccupied, and it is nice to stop by here for a look to take my mind off the constant rocking and rolling!
Cheers
Neil

Hi Neil, glad to here you and your family are safe and well. I've been keeping an eye on the news as I have family and friends up in Christ Church, fortunitly none of them have been badly effected. I thought of you and yours when I saw that there had been a rather strong aftershock in Lyttelton habour not far from where you live. Hope things get back to relative normality for you soon. Danny.

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the pics.

I'm sure something like that takes over your thoughts pretty completely. Glad it hasn't been a human tragedy.

I don't see why you can't shoot though ... .... ..... hahaha.

Be careful where ya step!

Gary

Liquefaction . . . that's a $10 word! Pretty interesting actually, unless your house or other property happens to be built on top of it.

When I lived in California, I went through one minor earthquake (that I felt -- I'm sure there were more). I thought it was a big truck going down the street, but it lasted about a minute or so, and the glass of water on the coffee table wouldn't stop shaking.

Be safe down there.

-- Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2010 12:38PM by admin.

Danny, thanks for your concern. We have been very lucky and keep reminding ourselves of that when we walk around the town or read the newspaper. That little nasty aftershock near Lyttelton occurred just as I started driving down our bumpy lane to work, so I missed the effect of it, however my wife was a little unnerved and my work colleague, who was stationary at traffic lights when it struck, phoned my mobile and said she was waiting in her car and would not go into our building until I arrived! We had a decent aftershock in the middle of the night, and another this morning, but they are definitely much less frequent. Life is slowly returning to normal

Gary,I did do some shooting yesterday, and about time. The .50 cal has had alittle work done on it so I wanted to test it out before a possible (earthquakes permitting) hunt next weekend. It was good to be back....

Jim, this was only a 30 second quake, but violent with it. The noise and power can be likened to being inside a locomotive, the wheels of which have suddenly turned turned oblong and it has commenced shaking itself to pieces. An interesting experience, which I would be happy not to repeat!

Cheers

Neil

Hi Neil,

What are you going to hunt. Man, I wish I had opportunity to do some varmint hunting. The hunts you have described have been great.

Gary

Hi Gary
I'm making a day trip to Waimate (where I attempted to hunt wallaby last hunt) and we will try for wallaby, pig and maybe even deer. Fingers crossed for the weather, which is particularly changeable at the moment!
Cheers
Neil

Hi Neil,

I'd like some changable weather here right now. It's been rainy, cold, and blowing for days. I feel like a North Sea Fisherman!

Hope your hunt goes well. Watch out for those crazy Emuuuuu's



Gary