Yesterday we had two major aftershocks here in Christchurch; a 5.7 followed some time later by a 6.3. I was working from home for both of them and was by myself in the house. Both times I dived straight under the dining table to ride it out. A year ago there is no way I would have dived under a table -- it just wasn't in my mind or my muscle memory -- but now there's no hesitation whatsoever. As I clung to the table leg, both me and it bouncing around on the floor, and listening to things crash down in the kitchen beside me, I was glad to have some solid wood between me and whatever might come down over my head.
As it turned out, we had no structural damage to the house and no damage to contents either, which seems miraculous, especially as I am certain I heard glass smashing. I can't find any broken glass now, so either it is hiding until I let my guard down or else I was mistaken. It could have been the roof tiles crashing around a few feet above me -- they do sound like breaking glass when they shake against each other.
My husband was at work for both shakes and they had no significant damage either, although a window cracked and I believe some insulation tiles in the roof came down.
Since yesterday we have (so far) had more recorded aftershocks than I can count. In the last 24 hours we have had 44 of them. Check out the action on the quake maps -- there has been a very significant change in the last day or so!
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