22-24 February 2011
Finally (sigh of relief), sitting in the Christchurch airport we can fully reflect on the events of the last three days. Our state of mind can only be described as distracted. This is conveyed in the way Nick placed our laptop in an airport screening tray and picked up the whole stack of them without even noticing (there were at least 5 in his hands). But we are also feeling positive about leaving Christchurch and our anxiety caused by the continuous aftershocks. In the airport there is still debris littering the floor, pieces of the ceiling missing, and from where I sit I can see 20 odd bottles of assorted cokes, waters, and juices that are still strewn on the floor of a closed airport café.
On the afternoon of the 22nd we were leisurely exploring Christchurch’s city center, spending time in what is known as Cathedral Square, purchasing new boots for Nick in a lovely pedestrian mall, searching for plant books in used bookstores, and finally heading into a shopping center to purchase food for lunches and dinners which we could cook back at our hostel.
We had just left a used bookstore and entered a shopping center where there is a grocery store when the magnitude 6.3 quake hit. What I remember is entering the shopping center, looking about, exclaiming “Hey, this looks just like Sierra Vista Mall. . .” when I was suddenly running against the force of the earth’s movement, using all of my strength to stay upright and not fall down. The rumble of the earth mixed with people screaming, bending steel, breaking glass, and cracking plastic overwhelmed all of my senses. As we ran out of the doors we had just come in, balking at the thought that we were actually running straight towards glass doors, Nick remembers seeing the pavement outside rolling like waves in the ocean. I can’t remember seeing anything.
Once outside, car alarms and security systems were blaring, the pavement was cracked in many places and people were panicked. Many people jumped in their cars and frantically drove away. We stood around for a few minutes, picking debris from our clothes, wondering what to do, feeling shocked and totally bewildered. This was a big one. After a few minutes of chatting with locals who all said that this was far stronger than the 7.1 on September 4th, we decided that we better head back to our hostel and see how it and our stuff had fared.
Walking out onto the street we suddenly realized we were in the middle of a serious disaster. Most of the buildings, old and made of brick, had crumbled and lay in piles in the middle of the street. It was just before 1pm and town was full of workers, tourists, shoppers, and locals on their lunch breaks. As we walked in the middle of the street and back towards Cathedral Square we understood that we could not walk in that direction. It was clear that there were many people hurt, some out in the streets bloody from their injuries and others that we knew we could not see. We were standing in the middle of an intersection when I realized that we were on the corner where we had bought a book not ten minutes before. The book shop was gone, it had crumbled. Up ahead of us all we saw were destroyed buildings, a large fire, and crushed cars and buses. All I could think was that I was so glad we had left that bookstore, that I could not actually be seeing this and that we could not continue walking in our current direction. We turned right and tried to figure out how to get away from the taller buildings. Everyone was screaming to stay in the middle of the road and away from the buildings that were coming apart around us.
We finally made it to a small corner park where we asked to borrow someone’s phone to send a text to our families to let them know we were unhurt and ok. After awhile we figured that we better try again to get back to our hostel, just a half mile away, and started walking farther out of town and away from out hostel.
As we walked and waded through liquefied soil (bubbling up to the surface as the result of liquefaction) mixed with sewage and water from broken water mains, avoiding downed power lines, we were accompanied by many who had nearly escaped their buildings. Many without shoes. There is a large park on the west side of town and we were all heading in that direction because it was an open area that we knew was safe. There had already been a few large aftershocks and we did not want to be anywhere close to buildings at this point. By now the traffic moving around the city was horrendous, with everyone trying to get home. The police had already closed a few of the bridges, and we could see large cracks in overpasses. Once we were in the park we felt safer, there were only a few fallen trees and a few large cracks in the lawns that we could see.
As we walked through the park with hundreds of others we were comforted by the cities beautiful botanic gardens. Arriving back at our shaken and partially destroyed hostel we were allowed to go in and pack our bags. Our room was still intact, though the TV and pictures on the wall had crashed to the floor. More surprising though, was that the fireplace in the common room had completely crumbled and the pool table had moved about 5 feet. In the midst of packing a large aftershock found us running straight for the back door where we watched as liquefied soil bubbled through a crack in the lawn. Packing quickly, we headed outside to accompany the dozen or so other tourists staying in our hostel now stranded by the quake. Everyone was planning on heading into the park where it was rumored that the city would make arrangements for us under a large tent set up for a flower show. Sitting on the curb and pondering our grim options, we were approached by a neighbor who asked what our plan was. When she found out that we had none, she offered us a place to stay in her son’s home, just a few blocks up the road. We only had to think about it for a few seconds before agreeing to go and see the house and headed there along with two other tourists.
We spent the next two nights with an incredibly generous and welcoming family who opened their home to us even as they were struggling to cope with the aftermath of the horrendous earthquake. Like us, they were all unhurt and happy to be safe and together. Without power and water for the foreseeable future, Nick dug us a pit in their backyard and we barbequed anything that we could find. The next two days passed with dozens of nerve-rattling aftershocks, very little sleep, good food, great company, an extremely comfortable bed, and a disheartening visit to the Red Cross tent where we would have ended up if not for the extreme generosity of this family. We cannot express the complete gratitude we feel towards this family who opened their home to us as if we were one of their nearest and dearest. We feel so lucky to have been taken care of during this time.
We are now headed to Auckland on the North Island, relived to be escaping this town where as tourists we are now a serious burden. While we did not opt to take one of the free flights to Wellington from the Red Cross, we are impressed with how swiftly they moved people out of harm’s way. We have entertained the idea of coming home, but think we will try to repair our shaken spirits with some time in nature (and maybe a few bottles of wine).
Our thoughts are with those who lost loved ones, who are still waiting to hear news about missing people, and the whole city of Christchurch as it endures the aftershocks, recoveries and starts the long process of rebuilding.
We feel so lucky.
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