So this morning, I was woken by my entire house shaking.

There has been 7.4 quake 30 kms west of Christchurch. Incredibly there have been no fatalities and personally, I've been lucky in that my house is almost undamaged. We've had aftershocks all day and another large one is expected.

Without a doubt it has been the single most terrifying experience of my life. Living in NZ, I've gotten used to minor shakes and even tend to have a pretty cavalier attitude to them. This has been a graphic reminder exactly how powerless we really are.

That is very good news that there have been no known fatalities, and I hope there is very little damages done. Earthquakes are incredibly frightening because your entire foundation (what youre standing on, not foundation in the construction sense) is basically being torn apart.

7.4 is pretty ugly, mate - hope no bodies turn up! For reference, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that literally tore up the city was 8.25 while the 1989 one was 6.7 on the Richter scale).

Must've been a really incredible (and I don't mean strictly awesome :) ) experience for you!

Quote: Original post by irreversible

Must've been a really incredible (and I don't mean strictly awesome :) ) experience for you!

I won't forget it in a hurry!

To be honest, though, the worst part is actually now, just waiting for the next after shock. They've been happening all day and civil defense are saying we could be due for at least one more big one of 6 or so.

Just noticed the brick chimney at the back of the house has a slight crack. Kinda worried that it's going to suffer if there's another big one.

On the plus side, both my red brick bbq and the deck I built are in perfect nick. I am 2 for 2 in the earthquake proof building stakes [grin]

Earthquakes are not to be worried about, it is the buildings you need to worry about. Head for the hills :)

Quote: Original post by irreversibleFor reference, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that literally tore up the city was 8.25 while the 1989 one was 6.7 on the Richter scale).

The scale is logarithmic though, IIRC, so 7.4 is 5X as intense as 6.4, but only 15% as strong as 8.25. Did I get that right, haven't used logarithms for a while...?

Quote: Original post by magic_man
Head for the hills :)

Um,

">no thanks.

I'm glad to hear you're safe and hope everyone else is too!

Quote: Original post by LessBread
I'm glad to hear you're safe and hope everyone else is too!

Cheers, Less. Miraculously, there hasn't been a single fatality, which is mostly down to the timing of the quake (4:30 am, people have gone home from pubs and others aren't up yet).

Still getting minor after shocks all day.

Quote: Original post by Antheus

Quote: Original post by magic_man
Head for the hills :)

Um,

">no thanks.

Sweet monkey jebus, that's horrific.