Shakin’ All Over.
We had a bit of excitement this morning. And by excitement I mean white knuckled terror. Christchurch experienced a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. I won’t try to offer factual evidence other than to say it was SCARY! Being woken up at 4:30 in the morning to a bed that’s moving from side to side, a thunderous roar that masked the sound of smashing vases & framed pictures and a house that swayed like it was riding a massive wave, was the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced.
The house we’re living in right now has a few more cracks and the floor has sunk in some parts but other than that, it’s intact and the most important thing is that we’re all safe. On our drive around town today, we saw things like roads that had buckled upwards and soil ‘liquefaction’ (the hubby had to explain that one to me) where it had acted like a liquid and become a mini mudslide, water bubbling up from underground, collapsed brick chimneys on quite a lot of houses and some beautiful heritage buildings that had crumbled into the street.
It’s a complete miracle that it all happened in the wee hours so noone was around to be crushed under any of the debris. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if Aspen was older and woke up to the scary confusion of all of that. As it was, I stood over her crib and held my arms out (completely ineffectually) as the room swayed from side to side to protect her from falling debris (which was pretty spazzy considering the only debris would have been the roof falling in and I’m pretty sure my wobbly arms wouldn’t have been able to hold that up). In typical Aspen fashion, she slept through the entire thing. Probably dreaming dreams of being some sort of gargantuan baby decimating small Japanese cities. That girl thrives on chaos.
So, yes, we are all safe and the house is still standing but this has shaken me to my core. You go through your life with certain principles guiding you. I breathe the air around me, the sun comes up every morning and the ground is solid beneath my feet. It’s a major blow when the ground beneath your feet can’t be counted on. You start to wonder what other strongly-held beliefs might turn out to be untrue. At 4:30am, I seriously doubted that the sun would come out that morning.
The worst thing is that we’ve been getting aftershocks constantly since the event which, although don’t do any damage, further reinforce the lack of trust you now have in the world around you. We’re all a bit shellshocked around here. Glad to be alive and have each other and also a little more wary of what Mother Nature is capable of.
Image source: Monsters and Critics.
Glad to hear you’re okay and that the house stood up too it!
I was visiting family this weekend and heard about it on the radio– I immediately thought of you also! Glad you’re all ok!
Maddie the way you say spazzy makes me laugh every time. So good to hear you are ok and hope the aftershocks stop very soon. Take care xo
I am so thankful that it happened at that time of day. Glad you are safe and your house isn’t too damaged xox
I’m glad we don’t really get earthquakes up here in Auckland, though of course there’s always volcanic eruption to worry about… When people started emailing me asking if *I* were ok I laughed and went to listen to the news. Took me awhile to realise this wasn’t the standard earthquake that had hit you guys and the damage is boggling. So sad about all those lovely old brick buildings but as you say, really great it happened at that time of the morning if it did have to happen. We tend to be a bit sheltered from the natural world these days, when the earth actually does something that impinges on our daily lives it comes as a real shock! We really need to get our emergency kit together and stop being so slack – though at least our bookshelves are fixed to the walls!
Somehow this post gave me a far better idea of what it must’ve been like for you guys than any of the news reports did… I love that you stood over your baby, it’s just the kind of protective-yet-irrational thing that I would’ve done… What a scary situation! Glad you guys are all good!
You hit the nail on the head with the ground beneath your feet not being able to be counted on and being wary of mother nature! I am hoping we can some how miss this massive wind storm that is supposed to be coming!
So glad you are OK Maddie!!
Gosh you poor things! I had tears in my eyes as I watched the news yesterday. As you may know, we get quite a few earthquakes here in the Bay of Plenty as well, so I know how terrifying they are-even the little ones. Kia Kaha xx
Earthquakes are super scary! I’m so glad your family is safe. I hope your house is stable and there isn’t too much monetary damage to fix. May God continue to keep you safe!
That is scary! I am glad to hear you are all okay. Definitely be well and be safe. Keep us posted if you need anything!
Hi guys, I thought of you immediately upon hearing the news and am so relieved and grateful for your safety! Aspen is adorbs and much changed since the last time I saw her! Take good care and all the best to you, Tim and Aspen from a Canadian friend. (Great blog BTW – must spend some time exploring).
I’m thinking of you and li’l aspen..
I’m glad you’re alright – as said, stay close to each other.
Have a look in your daughter’s face and smile back!
With love.
Thinking of you and relieved to hear you and Tim and Aspen are ok. Cannot imagine the terror you experienced. Hope all things improve very quickly.
David and Rosemarie in Canberra.
Wow, what a terrible ordeal for you and it continues. I hope you have your batteries, radio, torch and tins of baked beans handy! (only kidding). The images we see here are getting are SCARY! I am sure it is a lot more so in real living colour. Stay close to eachother. We are thinking of you – tell us if you need food parcels. Love and Hugs
Maddie I thought of you as soon as i saw it on the news this morning! Glad you’re alright – scary stuff indeed!!