Earthquake: Christchurch and the Canterbury Region of New Zealand

At 4:35 am Saturday morning in Christchurch, New Zealand, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake woke people up as the earth moved and they felt an earthquake stronger than any earthquake they had felt before in Christchurch. 

My husband was born in Christchurch, so when we heard the news of an earthquake of that magnitude, we both immediately felt concerned about family and friends. We weren't able to reach his family all day because the electricity was out over most of the city, so every phone call kept ringing and ringing. Finally, we were able to reach his sister's family, and we found out that everyone in the family was okay. His sister said that during the earthquake the bed felt like it was shaking the way the bed shook in the movie "The Exorcist", which was the perfect pop culture reference for me because I know very well what that bed looked like in that movie. I made the mistake of watching that movie at a young age and it terrified me throughout my childhood. So, I can imagine if I woke up to the bed shaking like the Exorcist bed, it would be instant terror for me. 

Miraculously,. nobody was killed because of this earthquake. There were injuries. There were damaged and destroyed buildings. But, there were no fatalities. 

We have seen many images on TV and online of the earthquake damage to buildings in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. It's shocking and sad to see piles of bricks in the streets that had once been part of a building that had been standing strong for 100 years. 

Here's a Before and After example of what has happened to just one beautiful old Christchurch building: 

BEFORE: http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=the+daily+bagel+christchurch&fb=1&gl=us&hq=the+daily+bagel&hnear=Christchurch,+New+Zealand&cid=0,0,2431500358704440826&ei=Yo6BTInnNsL7lwfMgc39Dw&ved=0CBMQnwIwAA&ll=-43.521279,172.628345&spn=0,0.019076&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=-43.521206,172.62829&panoid=hcQBsXwkeTnIV0AeMH1RIw&cbp=12,248.83,,0,-7.94

AFTER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcvEJ0-kHUA

I can't help but feel sorry for "The Daily Bagel" and the other businesses located there on Victoria Street. How will they do business now? What will happen to that building? I'm sure Christchurch will recover, and do better than ever, but it will take time, of course. 

I told my husband that it's a shame many people around the world never saw Christchurch before the scenes of the earthquake, because many people won't know what a beautiful city it is. This is a Christchurch tourism video, to give you an idea of how beautiful it looks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-I2LZMWNg

Christchurch is called "The Garden City", and I can see why. I've never commented on flowers and plants anywhere else as much as I have in Christchurch. Christchurch even has a Festival of Flowers every year. The next is in March of 2011: http://www.festivalofflowers.co.nz/

When our winter begins in the US, summer begins in Christchurch. So, although Christchurch is in the process of clean-up and repair right now, I'm sure by the time people are tired of winter in the US, Christchurch will be very ready for summer tourists: http://www.christchurchnz.com/

Thank you to TVNewZealand  for the video above about the Earthquake Epicentre.