OT: Big Destructive Quake in New Zealand

[lazypadawan]

A 6.3 struck near Christchurch, NZ just a couple of hours ago. This one is said to be much more destructive than the 7.1 that hit New Zealand in September, even though it's lower on the Richter scale and is likely an aftershock. Why? It was pretty shallow (2.5 miles), the shaking was more violent, it lasted a minute (by comparison, the 7.2 we got here a year ago lasted about 10 seconds), and it hit right in an urban area. Buildings are said to be down and sadly, people have been killed.

There was a cluster of aftershocks in SoCal/Baja on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Didn't feel any of them. There seems to be a whole lot of seismic activity going on again, with recent aftershocks in Chile, a cluster of mini quakes in Arkansas, etc..

Hope my Kiwi peeps are safe!

Comments

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

I'm ok as I live in NZ's North Island.

I feel so sorry for Christchurch. :-( Their CBD is being evacuated at the moment... I hope the death toll won't be too high.

Am sorry to hear about the quakes in your area.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you were far from the carnage.

[kittandchips.livejournal.com]

It's been a hard week. I'm in Auckland, but there was a very anxious wait on Tuesday afternoon for my friend's family, who live down there, to check in and confirm they were okay. The official death toll is currently at 123, but it will continue to rise as there are places they haven't begun to remove the bodies from yet.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear your friends are okay and that you were far from the quake. Whew.

It was unbelievable to see all of the collapsed buildings.