Down here in Christchurch, New Zealand (aka QuakeZone), 2011 has been unforgettable - and not in a good way.
Admittedly, that first big quake - the one that set off all the others - was in 2010. But this year we've had literally thousands of aftershocks (some, incredibly, more violent than the original earthquake). We've shovelled silt and patched up our homes and grieved for lives lost and kept going because, really, what else could we do?
Businesses closed, job lossed started, money got tight. We all learned what it means when your house is 'red-stickered' and your land won't be saved. We all thought long and hard about how much we wanted to live in Christchurch. Some of us upped and left. Some of us chose to stay. Some of us had no choice.
2011 also saw Mother Nature throw us the worst winter in years. Very pretty and all that, but this year? When half our city had lost their heating? Really?
And it wasn't just l'il ole New Zealand that suffered at the hands of Nature. This year, disaster has struck time and again all over the world. Have I just been more aware of it this year, or have we really suffered more than the usual dose of destruction and devastation?
There have been some high-notes as well this year (thinks... thinks some more... ) but, whatever they were, they've been pretty much drowned out by the lows.
I can't wait for 2011 to be over and another year started, a fresh start made.
As for New Year's resolutions (shudders), I don't usually make them but this year I've surprised myself by dreaming up a couple of possibilities. Of course, turning them into resolutions will jinx them, for sure!
What's your resolution for 2012? Do you have one? Quick! Tell me what it is. Maybe it's something I haven't thought of, something essential to a rich and enjoyable life, and I could sure do with that next year.
Showing posts with label Earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earthquake. Show all posts
Friday, December 30, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
We Remember
It seems incredible to me that ten years has already passed since 9-11 stopped being my friend's birthday and became instead a symbol of terrorism.
Ten years since I woke to images so horrifying, so emotionally overwhelming that I struggled to comprehend them.
Ten years since I waited by the phone for news of our cousins, who were in transit to the States (from New Zealand). Ten years since I went into work, wondering how I could possibly answer the questions I knew my students would have. Ten years since I, thousands of miles away, felt rage and grief and fear and helplessness and could only imagine what those directly affected were going through.
The fallout from the Christchurch earthquakes (and ongoing aftershocks) over the past year has been enormous, and my life and attitudes to all sorts of things have changed as a result. But it's far easier for me to "normalise" or accept the havoc wreaked by Mother Nature than the deliberate destruction wreaked by people on other people.
So - yes. I remember. And I grieve for what we all lost on 9-11-01.
When you hear 9-11, what does it bring to mind for you?
Ten years since I woke to images so horrifying, so emotionally overwhelming that I struggled to comprehend them.
Ten years since I waited by the phone for news of our cousins, who were in transit to the States (from New Zealand). Ten years since I went into work, wondering how I could possibly answer the questions I knew my students would have. Ten years since I, thousands of miles away, felt rage and grief and fear and helplessness and could only imagine what those directly affected were going through.
The fallout from the Christchurch earthquakes (and ongoing aftershocks) over the past year has been enormous, and my life and attitudes to all sorts of things have changed as a result. But it's far easier for me to "normalise" or accept the havoc wreaked by Mother Nature than the deliberate destruction wreaked by people on other people.
So - yes. I remember. And I grieve for what we all lost on 9-11-01.
When you hear 9-11, what does it bring to mind for you?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
QuakeZone
On Saturday 4th September 2010, at 4.36am, my partner and I woke to the biggest earthquake we've ever experienced. The pre-quake rumble was terrifying. Freight-train-through-your-lounge volume. Then the quake hit. Apparently it lasted forty seconds. To both of us it felt much, much longer. How to get to the kids in time? How to calm their terror, keep them safe? How to stay on our feet until we reached them?
Magnitude: 7.1 on the Richter scale. Depth: 10km (that's shallow!). Epicentre: 40km west of Christchurch. Effect on our beautiful city: devastation.
Miraculously, no lives were lost; the earthquake struck when Christchurch streets were at their quietest. The clean-up task will take months - possibly years. Many people have lost their homes, many have lost their livelihoods. But we still have each other. Thank God.
On TV, in the newspapers and online, new images and stories are emerging daily of the destruction that's been wreaked in a mere forty seconds. I'm struggling to comprehend it all. Twisted shop frontages, piles of rubble, torn buildings, silt and water where neither should be... it's unbelievable. And the most unbelievable thing of all: our home is unscathed. A couple of breakages, a few doors that don't want to close... but seriously, it's so minimal it's almost embarrassing. How did this happen? How did our modest 1936 wooden house remain intact?
Five days on and the cracks are beginning to show. In me, not the house. To say I'm feeling fractious is an understatement. My nerves are completely shot! For how long will these freaking after-shocks assault us? For how long will any faint rumble have me freezing, then grabbing the kids and diving for doorjams?
You'll have to imagine the nervous responses - but for some idea of the way our week has gone in QuakeZone - check out www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz. (Thanks to Gracie for passing it on.) This simulation says it all.
Magnitude: 7.1 on the Richter scale. Depth: 10km (that's shallow!). Epicentre: 40km west of Christchurch. Effect on our beautiful city: devastation.
Miraculously, no lives were lost; the earthquake struck when Christchurch streets were at their quietest. The clean-up task will take months - possibly years. Many people have lost their homes, many have lost their livelihoods. But we still have each other. Thank God.
On TV, in the newspapers and online, new images and stories are emerging daily of the destruction that's been wreaked in a mere forty seconds. I'm struggling to comprehend it all. Twisted shop frontages, piles of rubble, torn buildings, silt and water where neither should be... it's unbelievable. And the most unbelievable thing of all: our home is unscathed. A couple of breakages, a few doors that don't want to close... but seriously, it's so minimal it's almost embarrassing. How did this happen? How did our modest 1936 wooden house remain intact?
Five days on and the cracks are beginning to show. In me, not the house. To say I'm feeling fractious is an understatement. My nerves are completely shot! For how long will these freaking after-shocks assault us? For how long will any faint rumble have me freezing, then grabbing the kids and diving for doorjams?
You'll have to imagine the nervous responses - but for some idea of the way our week has gone in QuakeZone - check out www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz. (Thanks to Gracie for passing it on.) This simulation says it all.
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