Christchurch earthquake September 2010, day seven

Did I tell you about the 5.1 mag earthquake we had on Wednesday morning? We thought we'd had a terribly strong aftershock from the original quake, but it was actually a quake from a new fault only a few kilometres from here and did lots more damage around town. Buildings which survived the first quake with no damage didn't all survive this one, and it badly frightened a lot of people including me. For many of us this quake was just the last straw. The Civil Defence emergency headquarters at the Art Gallery had to be evacuated while the building was assessed (thankfully it stayed safe), and staff members were reduced to tears.

The 5.1 struck just before 8:00am when we were asleep. I dived off the side of the bed onto the floor, and Skry froze where he was to see what would happen. The whole house was rocking quite violently and making a tremendous noise, but although it was bad it was nothing like Saturday's earthquake. Nothing fell on the ground, probably helped by the fact that we haven't put anything back up that fell on Saturday. It's all just lying there, waiting for the aftershocks to stop.

My nerves were completely shattered by this and I couldn't bear to stay in the house just waiting for the next one. Skry came with me for a walk around the neighbourhood instead, where we saw many chimneys just barely keeping their balance, and some big cracks right across the road at the bottom of Linwood Avenue where it reaches the river. That is the edge of the Avonside area which has been very badly damaged this week.

By lunchtime it was obvious that I needed to get away from what was going on for the sake of my mental health. Skry and I joined the steady stream of people leaving the city (the queues at every operating petrol station were impressive) and fled to friends in Scargill, about 1.5 hours north of here. The aftershocks were barely detectable at their house, which I always love anyway because it's so relaxing in the countryside there. We had two wonderful nights of unbroken sleep and my nerves feel in a much better state now. I am so grateful to have friends in a position to give us the gift of sanity!

We are still getting aftershocks on a regular basis, of course, but I feel better equipped to deal with them. I know that many people haven't been lucky enough to get away, and the strain is definitely starting to show on those who have lost homes, businesses, or both. It must be devastating for them.

Here is a picture that I pilfered from the Stuff website. It shows the aftershocks we have endured this week. An impressive collection, isn't it?!