Someone has fallen out of bed a bit too hard - we wish. We have had a 7.0 in Taranaki in the last hour, 230km deep. Sounds like no injuries so far but some damage reported from freinds on the Kapiti Coast near Wellington. Trains are stopped on the NIMT between Marton and Hamilton while structures are assesed (Shaking Intensity was MM6), not heard about the Suburban network in Wellington but I imagine they have stopped too.
I'm fine, I'm in Auckland, the first I knew about it was when Twitter went stupid, and the local newspaper put up a post on Facebook that had 780 responses, 32,000 likes and 78,000 page views in 8 minutes, and the Internet went slow!
Thanks very much :thumbsup:
I have a customer in New Zealand so will check on them.
They are getting a bit frequent, or are we just hearing more about it lately?
I would tell other Kiwi's to move to Auckland, but we are situated on 56 volcanoes, so we can talk! :smiley-laughing:
Quote from: newportnobby on July 03, 2012, 01:10:46 PM
Thanks very much :thumbsup:
I have a customer in New Zealand so will check on them.
They are getting a bit frequent, or are we just hearing more about it lately?
Quote from: kaiwhara on July 03, 2012, 01:12:10 PM
I would tell other Kiwi's to move to Auckland, but we are situated on 56 volcanoes, so we can talk! :smiley-laughing:
56 volcanoes - Yikes
Yeah just a couple, all fairly small though - most being under 150m in height. However, Rangitoto - the most recent one at 600 years ago was also well and truley the biggest, accounting for 60% volume of ejected material across the whole field!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_volcanic_field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_volcanic_field)
Oh No not again!
As long as you and your family are OK.
Ive a cousin in Wellington who I had better check up on, who sent me the most horrendous video of the damage across such large areas of the city I am surprised anyone stayed.
Ray
No all is fine in New Zealand, just a little shaken up. What damage has occured has been very minor. It was a big, deep (230km deep) rolly one, so it hasn't done much.
That's some good news kaiwhara. :thumbsup:
Strange coincidence my cousin who is in fact from Christchurch (not Wellington as I said) is Currently staying with his son in North Carolina.
So MM have you come across any Kiwis latley?
Ray :Class89:
No i haven't but then i dont go out! Not if i can help it!
I will look out for one though.
Yeah, Kaiwhara -heard about that one here in NSW. And I was thinking of crossing the ditch to Auckland for a visit next week! That is not going to happen (last minute) but I know you guys are very flexible (!) over there. I know my old schoolmate who lives in Wellington is very philosophical when it comes to earthquakes.
There is no doubt, though about the horrific nature of last year's disaster in Christchurch. I was just reading some of the court statements from survivors of that television building in a recent news report here. Scary stuff, and not to be taken lightly.
However, it is sorta fun to read the responses from our UK forum friends. Volcanoes! Yikes! One of the great things about the North Island is that you have two skifields on the side of an active volcano! I have had the pleasure of skiing both of them, and take pleasure in the fact that the majority of European skiers have probably not skied down the side of an active volcano.
Anyway, glad to hear all is well with you - the Driving Creek Railway rules! :wave:
And to our Northern hemisphere friends, take a trip to NZ. It is awesome. (you can stop by in Oz, if you want)!
I hope all is well for everyone in the affected area's and a speedy recovery for all services to resume normal operation. Best wishes all.
Everywhere in New Zealand is ok bar Christchurch, but Christchurch's issues are more political in nature than anything - Everyone has different ideas about how the rebuild should take place, frustration over how long it is taking for EQC to payout, Royal Commision of Enquiry finding that EQC sent out Rapid Response Teams for Building Assesments who were not trained adiquately for the task - something currently under the spotlight out of the Enquiry into the collapse of the Canterbury Television Building (most of the casualties were in this building) where it sounds as though the Structure was not as sound as it should have been (sounds like Holes were drilled in beams? Been on late shift this week), so we seem to be in the mud slinging phase, instead of the building phase...
So the square beneath the cathedral is still out of bounds? As you say, sounds like blind leading blind. Leadership required?
Quote from: bealman on July 08, 2012, 06:44:12 AM
Yeah, Kaiwhara -heard about that one here in NSW. And I was thinking of crossing the ditch to Auckland for a visit next week! That is not going to happen (last minute) but I know you guys are very flexible (!) over there. I know my old schoolmate who lives in Wellington is very philosophical when it comes to earthquakes.
There is no doubt, though about the horrific nature of last year's disaster in Christchurch. I was just reading some of the court statements from survivors of that television building in a recent news report here. Scary stuff, and not to be taken lightly.
However, it is sorta fun to read the responses from our UK forum friends. Volcanoes! Yikes! One of the great things about the North Island is that you have two skifields on the side of an active volcano! I have had the pleasure of skiing both of them, and take pleasure in the fact that the majority of European skiers have probably not skied down the side of an active volcano.
Anyway, glad to hear all is well with you - the Driving Creek Railway rules! :wave:
And to our Northern hemisphere friends, take a trip to NZ. It is awesome. (you can stop by in Oz, if you want)!
I strongly endorse all of this. Not a skier but my first visit was in July/August 1996, when Ruhapehu was still steaming from its New Year eruption!
Returned again in Feb 2011. Within 5 hours of early morning landing we were helping move the drystock on a dairy farm! Was in Napier (with its own history?) when news of the Christchuch tragedy broke. As a result we had to replan our itinerary. Missed the TranzAlpine run. But managed the Taerie Gorge Railway (can't find the brochure to check the spelling). Truly amazing run.
Also the Glenbrook Railway near Pukekohe and our farming friend's parish church. Well worth a visit. The private line up near the Bay of Islands was sadly out of action. But of I ever wanted to leave the UK, NZ would tempt me.
Yes the rail trip up the gorge and back out of Dunedin is indeed spectacular. Yep, the shaky isles are shaky but beautiful. Metre gauge too, ya know. All these big diesels hauling stuff on what looks like narrow gauge! Marvellous.
Yes Cathedral Square, along with a good portion of the CBD down to Litchfield, Up to Gloucester, and about a similar distance East and West are still in the Red Zone and out of bounds to the public. Sadly the Anglican Cathedral was severely damaged and is being deconstructed to around 2 meters in height. Sadly this was the only example of a truley English Cathedral in an Urban Centre in New Zealand which has been the subject of hot debate. It had to be done though as the structure truley was not in good shape.
I was down in the South Island on holiday when the Feb 22 6.3 Quake struck, and ironically was actually on the Tranz Alpine that day. Didn't feel the quake itself, but was stranded on the Coast as a result, having to fly back the next day. In terms of continuing our Holiday we were well and truley stonkered as our Car was stuck in the Honda Dealership getting repairs done on St. Asaph St which was inside the Red Zone when we got back. The Aftershocks were violent and being so close and so shallow, you got absolutely no warning of them. Liquifaction was a big problem as well - sand volcanoes were popping up literally everywhere. As we were in a Railways Staff Welfare House which are leased Saturday to Saturday we had to get out of there sadly (although it wasn't initially booked after us, it got snapped up by a local family who works for us whos house was wrecked), we ended up leaving our stuff at a mates undamaged house and retreated home back to Auckland for a few days. We then flew back down about a week later once we could get our hands on a Rental Car and continued our Holiday from Queenstown (which is a really stunning place, and surprisingly for a tourist hotspot quite reasonably priced), only to find out when we got down there the next day that our car could be removed from the Red Zone, but we had to get it that day, as it was being shut again. So, 13 hours and 1100km later we had driven from Queenstown to Christchurch and back, dropped the Rental at Christchurch Airport and got our car back (yay!!!).
Not a nice time and can say that, despite having grown up in Wellington and having experienced thousands of Earthquakes down there, that I had never experienced anything like the ones we were getting in Christchurch (at that stage a quake at least 4.0 at least once an hour), and I have no shame in saying I was very stressed and wound up, and got virtually no sleep while we were in Christchurch. I have never felt quite like that before or since.
As a result, I missed out Dunedin and the Taieri Gorge Line, and Te Anau and Milford Sound, but that gives us something to look forward to next year :-)
I don't know what others think, but I think Christchurch, like Napier after their quake in 1937 have a very exciting future - current bickering aside. Napier has been here once before, and as a direct result of their disaster, they have a very unique, celebrated Art Deco Architecture in such scale not seen anywhere in New Zealand! I think Christchurch in 70 years time will be very much the same!
Not quite, we are 1067mm here (3' 6"), just as Queensland Rail and Trans Perth are. ;)
Quote from: bealman on July 08, 2012, 12:02:39 PM
Yes the rail trip up the gorge and back out of Dunedin is indeed spectacular. Yep, the shaky isles are shaky but beautiful. Metre gauge too, ya know. All these big diesels hauling stuff on what looks like narrow gauge! Marvellous.
Thanks for that correction. It's over a metre and a half, then. It just looks narrower. I have seen the railways in Qld and WA, and honestly have believed them to be metre gauge! I think it must be an optical illusion due to seeing what is basically full sized stock on the narrower gauge. Thanks again for putting me straight.
Wow, your South Island experiences were harrowing. I love the South Island and I truly feel for the residents of Christchurch. However, if they all share your optimistic outlook for the future, then I'm sure your forecast will be correct! I stood at the top of that cathedral spire at lunchtime almost exactly a year before the destruction. I still get the shivers.
Yoiks! :o Ive only just caught up with this thread.
I hope things get sorted as soon as possible and everybody will be ok