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another earthquake in Christchurch NZ

Just got an email from a friend we were planning on having dinner with tonight here in Wellington. She has cancelled. Her brother works in Christchurch, and while he is ok, it looks like he may have lost as many as five of his workmates in a building collapse.

:(

NZ has such a small population, it is unlikely that anyone will be unaffected in some way by this tragedy.
 
Alan said:
CHC_Airport on Twitter, according to Google's twittery function: "Christchurch Airport remains closed. The terminal buildings and airways control tower remain intact. Please do not travel to the airport."

but if you click on it you get "Christchurch Airport is currently closed due to a significant aftershock. Please do not travel to the airport."
http://twitter.com/CHC_Airport/status/39846297766866944
It didn't say anything is intact.

Which is not to say that anything happened to them.
Click to expand...


Yeah there's lots of conflicting and confusing information at this stage. Apparantly Christchurch Airport has opened for air evacuations and the first Air Ambulance flight has already arrived in Auckland, so the runway must be okay.

The first reports are coming in from Lyttleton at the epicentre of the quake. By a stroke of good fortune the RNZN's sealift and amphibious support ship - HMNZS Canterbury - was alongside at the time of the quake and military personnel are securing control of the area. A reporter there is implying that Lyttleton is almost totally destroyed, though there are currently no reports of deaths.
 
My workmate has recieved a text from his son who is in the army and was down there. They are now in the city centre helping out, so the whole search and rescue thing is now in full swing. More aftershocks are being reported, over 6 since the initial event at 12:51pm local time.
 
gumboot said:
Yeah there's lots of conflicting and confusing information at this stage. Apparantly Christchurch Airport has opened for air evacuations and the first Air Ambulance flight has already arrived in Auckland, so the runway must be okay.

The first reports are coming in from Lyttleton at the epicentre of the quake. By a stroke of good fortune the RNZN's sealift and amphibious support ship - HMNZS Canterbury - was alongside at the time of the quake and military personnel are securing control of the area. A reporter there is implying that Lyttleton is almost totally destroyed, though there are currently no reports of deaths.
Click to expand...

They were just talking to one of the officers off the canturbury and it sounds like Lyttleton has suffered, but it's not totally destroyed, in fact they seemed more worried about getting people there settled and getting into Christchurch to help with the collapses there.
 
Talk about a mixed blessing - Your town gets flatten by an earthquake, and you have the best equiped people in the nation right next door
 
PhantomWolf said:
They were just talking to one of the officers off the canturbury and it sounds like Lyttleton has suffered, but it's not totally destroyed, in fact they seemed more worried about getting people there settled and getting into Christchurch to help with the collapses there.
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Yeah that was probably the same report I heard; a Colonel, I believe.

Prior to talking to the Colonel the reporter had described the damage as severe, but it's not like they'd be the first reporter to exaggerate things.
 
MG1962 said:
Talk about a mixed blessing - Your town gets flatten by an earthquake, and you have the best equiped people in the nation right next door
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Yeah pretty amazing...

In early 2011, it was announced that the ship would form the core asset of a joint Australia-New Zealand task force for disaster-relief operations. It was noted that the Canterbury was currently the only appropriate vessel available to the navies of the two countries for such tasks, as three other similar-capability ships of Australia are long-term unavailable due to significant maintenance issues.
Click to expand...
 
4 People have been rescued from the collapsed and burning CTV Building by S&R teams frantically trying to get people out alive, but there are still an unknown number inside.
 
MG1962 said:
Talk about a mixed blessing - Your town gets flatten by an earthquake, and you have the best equiped people in the nation right next door
Click to expand...

Apparantly there is a massive joint forces exercise on in Canterbury at the moment so there are extensive military assets in situ already. Not to mention, of course, that Burnham Camp is located 30km south of Christchurch and is home of 3 Land Force Group (about a third of the NZ Army's entire personnel strength including emergency response, engineering, and logistics assets plus a battalion of infantry) and the NZDF Joint Services Health School where all NZDF medics are trained.
 
Australian USAR from NSW is enroute. It's a comfort to know we always have our mates across the ditch watching our back.
 
PhantomWolf said:
4 People have been rescued from the collapsed and burning CTV Building by S&R teams frantically trying to get people out alive, but there are still an unknown number inside.
Click to expand...


Pretty sobering when you look at the photos and consider that was a 5 storey building a few hours ago. Survivors from the top floor apparantly walked out at street level.
 
Channel 9 in Australia is currently showing NZTV news as they report on the quake.

Looks absolutely horrible, good thing the emergency crews were on the scene so quickly.
 
gumboot said:
Australian USAR from NSW is enroute. It's a comfort to know we always have our mates across the ditch watching our back.
Click to expand...

Least we could do - Also looks like the Yanks have put their hand up. Just waiting to find out what is the most urgent need
 
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