Canterbury Earthquake

Saturday 4th Sept 2010, 7.1 - How we felt...

My wee boy said "I felt really worried."  I think I went into survival mode and my first instinct was to get under the bed.  I have never felt anything like it.  I had my arm around my son and was just thinking.... when is this going to stop!  I didn't realise the devastation the earthquake had caused until I switched on the TV and went into the  Geonet site.

My brother, his wife and their baby were standing outside.  Shiho was shocked and scared because her body was moving in the bed.   Their flat was old and wooden and started creaking - my brother thought the house was going to collapse and ran to get out.  They drove to our place after 5 am and noticed the roads all spilt around Avonside Drive.

My Mother was on high alert and I've never seen her sprint so fast to get under the table.  She said she was trembling with fear.

What happened to you and how did you feel?

Elizabeth

All photos courtesy of Nick King.
















17 comments:

  1. How scary. I wasn't there as I was in Wanaka on a ski trip but we could still feel it there (although I slept through it). I got back on Wednesday, just after the 5.1 aftershock. Pretty lucky really.

    Tom.

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  2. I'm glad you are ok Tom. I look forward to seeing you on Monday. You can tell us all about your ski trip. Elizabeth

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  3. The earthquake was extremely scary. I was really scared. I was in the sleepout at the time. The floor was shaking and I didn't think were going to survive. But we did. By Isaac.

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  4. I was in Hawks Bay at the time of the earthquake. It must have been pretty scary and big. It is very sad that Christchurch has lost some of it's historical buildings and our house is on an angle. Our hallway has gone from straight to curbed. By Caleb

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  5. After the earthquake I went to my Mum's mates house (he is building a house), to look to see if anything had broken. First we looked upstairs and looked in all the rooms. Upstairs everything was all right. We went down the stairs and looked down there. There was a door that fell down but that was all.

    I helped my Mum clean up my house. I helped my Grandma with the water. I helped her boil the water and she was putting it in the fridge. Katlin

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  6. After the earthquake I helped my Aunty Jill. Her house had sunk and bubbles and silt was on the ground. I cleaned up the silt and put it in the wheelbarrow and put it on the street. We could not touch it, so we used spades.

    Last Sunday was my birthday, but we had no power. So we celebrated my birthday yesterday. I got lots of toys. Lindsay

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  7. When the earthquake happened I thought I was dreaming. Then I was about to shout out when Dad came in. He told me to get under the bed but I didn't. Dad was half way under the bed when it stopped.

    One of my neighbours had a well, so I went and got water. I helped empty Isaac's freezer because they had no power for two days. Tim

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  8. I was at my friend Sarah's house. It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. I found my torch in my bag and the I could see if anything broke, but nothing did. The T.V almost fell on me, luckily it didn't! Sarah's Mum and Dad drove me home. When I got there it was so dark inside. At least only one thing broke, that was a pig statue. When it was light our neighbour came over to see if we were ok. We were and he was too. We gave him some water and told him that the power was on. By Ella

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  9. When the earthquake hit Christchurch it woke Ella and I up. At first I thought it was a dream, but then I realised it wasn't. Ella and I started yelling for Mum and Dad. I was really scared. Ella and I sat against the wall where nothing could fall on us, like a bookshelf or a photo on the wall. After the earthquake my Mum and Dad drove Ella home, to be with her Mum and Dad. They were very worried about her, but very relieved when we brought her home. My Mum went over to the neighbours to check that they were alright. Sarah

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  10. After the earthquake Isaac and I went to my Dad's work at Ferry Road. Everything had fallen off. The glasses stand fell down and broke in half. When we picked up everything Dad gave Isaac and me five dollars each! Alex

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  11. During the earthquake none of my brother's were at home and neither was I. I was at Isaac's house sleeping in the sleep out. Isaac and I were already awake when the earthquake happened. Isaac and I were afraid that the TV and shelf were going to fall, but thankfully it didn't. Jeremy

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  12. My family was helpful by letting my sister's boyfriend and his sister, Felicity, stay in my spare bed. They had a crack in their house and window. Rochelle

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  13. I was asleep then all of a sudden it was shaking then I said stop shaking. My Dad dived on me. He said 'earthquake.' Everyone's house in the neighbourhood was perfect. Then I walked into the wall because I couldn't see! Matt

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  14. I woke up to the power going off and then the room started shaking. It was really freaky. My sister told me to get out of the bed and I climbed down the ladder. After that we were looking for the torch and found it in the wash house. There was a big hole down at Bower Park and they covered it up. Shawnee

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  15. At 4.35 A.M I actually did not wake up from the 7.1 Magnitude EARTHQUAKE. My mum had to wake me up for the last 10 seconds of the quake. My mum went round the house at 5.30 in the morning we had cracks everywhere.
    Katelyn : )

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  16. Great stories from Room 5. Good to hear everyone is OK.

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  17. R.I.P to the people that died By Brook

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