I believe the YHA backpackers hostel was badly damaged and there was at least one fatality there. The Australian had a brief report a couple of days ago but I haven't seen anything since.
Reply to this Hey all.
I haven't been the best for posting the past year and a half while travelling, but wanted to pop on here and share my experiences with the earthquake.
I have been in New Zealand for the past three months on a Working Holiday Visa and have been working in Christchurch for the last two months.
The earthquake was absolutely terrifying and nothing could ever prepare anyone for such devastation. I was here for the big aftershocks on boxing day and they were bad, but this was just beyond anything one can ever imagine.
I am in awe with the ability of the people in Christchurch and the readiness and response to this situation. They had people organised seemingly immediately. It was amazing to see all the support and the "help your neighbour" mentality of the Christchurch people.
I left around noon today to head to Queenstown where my boss from work has a house and has invited us to stay. There are now a lot of us here and again the kindness of the New Zealanders amazes me.
I wish the best for anyone on here from Christchurch. I hope your families are well and you are managing.
Take care guys.
Reply to this Glad you're ok Jason.
Unfortunate though it was, I guess the last quake had the emergency services on alert for this one - even though as you said, noone was quite ready for the scale of it all.
I've rung the Red Cross hotline a couple of times regarding missing people, and they have been absolutely amazing.
Reply to this Good to hear that you are safe, Jason. I saw some CCTV and other footage filmed during the earthquake and it is beyond my comprehension to understand what it would be like to live through such an experience.
Having just gone through the Brisbane floods in Australia where the "help your neighbour" attitude was so prevalent, it is of no surprise to hear that this is also the case in New Zealand. There has always been a strong sense of community in this part of the world.
During natural disasters that impact either country, the other has always been there to help. Hundreds of rescue crew members from Australia were in Christchurch shortly after the scale of the disaster was apparent, and likewise New Zealand sent police, firefighters and soliders to assist with our recent Queensland floods even whilst the waters were still rising.
Reply to this Just watched a news story on a company running 'earthquake' tours. Unbelieveable......
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