Chch quake: Latest News

Confirmed dead: 75

Missing: 300

Rescue work continues in the Christchurch area, and people are getting more and more impatient in finding their loved ones.

Pyne Gould Corporation byggnaden i Christchurch.

Over 200 work at the Pyne Gould Corporation building, but no one knows how many where in the building when the quake hit. One woman was dragged out of the collapsed building 1-2 hours ago. They use as small holes as possible to crawl through and rescue people, all to not disturb the building too much to risk it crashing down even more.

The Canterbury TV building, which yesterday was still standing, started burning and eventually fell. There are still fires in the rubbles. Earlier today, reports said they had found 15 survivors in a pocket in the building, however, those reports turned out to be false. The CTV building is too dangerous to go through, and the rescue work has stopped. They think that over 100 people might have died as the building came crashing down.

Canterbury TV byggnaden.

The Grand Chancelor Hotel, the second tallest building in Christchurch, is hugely damaged, and they fear it will collapse any minute. The are has been evacuated.

Some houses in the Clifton Hill area, near Sumner, have also been evacuated, after the discovery of cracks in the surrounding hills.

Sumner Road, between Christchurch and Lyttletone has also been heavily damaged with cracks, and rocks have felt down on the road from the hills.

The iconic Timball Station building in LYttleton, has also been damaged from yesterday’s earthquake. For more information and pictures from Lyttleton, click Here.

En lastbil är fast på vägen mellan Christchurch och Lyttleton.

Up to 2 meter deep cracks have been formed in roads around the area where the earthquake hit.

For more information and pictures on the earthquake, click Here.

Information comes from 3news, TVONE News, Stuff.co.nz and NZ Herald.

ChCh quake: Devastating news

More devastating news, from the shaken Christchurch area.

The numbers of dead are increasing. 50 identified and 25 unidentified bodies have been recovered from the rumbles, caused by yesterday’s earthquake. 300 people are missing. All of these numbers are changing all the time, it is hard to say if people are missing for real, or have just left the town.

Seismologists say that yesterday’s earthquake, was an aftershock from the quake in September 2010. They had been expecting a larger after shock, but when it took so long for it to arrive, they thought they had escaped it. Until yesterday.

"Only" an after shock.... (image borrowed form internet)

“Yesterday’s earthquake was 30 times weaker but generated an amount of energy comparable to that of an explosion of 15,000 tonnes of TNT.” James Ihaka writes on the NZ Herald website.

This “after shock’s” epic centre, was closer to Christchurch, and at a depth of only 5 km, compared to the september 4 earthquake, which was 40 km west of the city, and 10 km deep. This caused the extensive damage in and around Christchurch, Lyttleton and Brighton.

With so many different news, it is hard for a simple person to understand how big the quakes are, and how strong the aftershocks have been. But apparently, the strongest aftershock wa at 5.7, only minutes after the 6.3 “tremble” at 12.51 pm yesterday, local time.

Civil Defence is giving a helping hand. (image borrowed form internet)

People have been evacuated from Christchurch to Wellington during the day, on board the Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft. More people will be evacuated during the day.

Military staff from Australia and Singapore are helping in the rescue effort.

Yesterday, Wellington’s airport asked people to take in stranded people from Christchurch, who could not come home to their loved ones. And Wellingtonians were quick to help, offering accommodation.  However, Christchurch’s airport is now open for domestic flights, and international flights will start using the airport again around 3.30pm local time.

Slowly, but surely, things are coming together, the city will recover, and as Prime Minister John Key said: Though lost lives will never be replaced, and though your city will never look the same again, you will rebuild your city, you will rebuild your lives, you will overcome.”

To get your home prepared for an emergency similar to this one, visit THIS site for more information.

Information comes from 3news, TVONE News and NZ Herald.

ChCh quake update: 23 feb

8.45 am Local Time

The rescue workers searched all through the night to find survivors. Bodies had to be” left on the streets“, in order to get to the survivors in time.

The confirmed dead, has been revised from 65, to 38, but there could be as many as 300 dead before this nightmare is over.

One woman, with a baby in her arms, died instantly when hit by falling rubble. There are no news yet on how badly hurt the baby is.

Rescue Teams searched all night for survivors. (image borrowed from internet)

And this is the reality all over the Christchurch area. Lyttleton and Brighton are unlivable and people have been camping on special grounds set up for survivors. The night was cold and wet, but most people were just happy to be alive. Over 950 people spend the night in these welfare centres set up in the city, and there they could get a blanket, some food and comfort.

The number of missing or injured is still not known. They find people everywhere in the rubble, and it will be a long and dangerous job to find and rescue everyone trapped in the rubble. However, reports say that around 120 people were pulled alive from the debris during the night.

There are floods all over the area. (image borrowed from internet)

The Prime Minister, John Key, said on Breakfast on TVone this morning, that they have received offers of help from over seas, which they have gladly accepted.

Information comes from 3news, TVONE News and NZ Herald.