http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12533291 At least 65 dead. My step-dad's family live in Christchurch, haven't been able to make contact with his brother. The rest of his family are accounted for though.
The spire on the Christchurch Cathedral collapsed. It was a beautiful structure. It's been rebuilt before, so I imagine they'll do it again. The fact that many people died during an earthquake tells me NZ needs better building codes.
The destruction of a building, of course, pales in comparison to the loss of human life, but it was a lovely cathedral.
My mom is in New Zealand right now and was actually in Christchurch. Fortunately, she was fine. I feel terrible, though, for those who lost someone.
Nope, but I do have family that live in Christchurch. My Uncle and Aunt are fine, they weren't even in Christchurch because they hadn't rebuilt their house from last time (one of their walls doesn't exist). No-one could get in touch with my cousin for quite some time, but I have recently heard that she's OK. Her house has completely collapsed though. Apparently one of the big problems was that the buildings were weakened from the previous earthquake, and aftershocks. This earthquake was also closer to the surface than any previous. These two factors combined to cause a lot of the destruction. Anyone heard from Blayza? I don't know if he's North, or South island.
What was it, a 7.1 quake just six months ago? I've never heard of such a strong quake coming so soon after that wasn't an aftershock. It's amazing so many posters have either been to Christchurch or have family there.
Hmm, I didn't know aftershocks could come so much later. It's always nice to learn something new. Thanks for the info!
