KiwiBirkin Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hi guys Small update house is Ok, Lotus is Ok, we are Ok although nerves are fried so with that we decided to leave town for a week and head up to the top of the South Island to get away from all the aftershocks, truth be know we had this vacation booked for this week prior to the EQ, once Marg had finished helping her brother shift in with us and we got Margs mum and nephew on flights Auckland to stay with her sister we decided it was still a good thing to get away as Pohara were we have gone to in Golden Bay is a lovely spot by the Able Tasman national park (Google it). As for Christchurch last news was 150+ confirmed dead with 220 un-accounted for in the CBD in the outer suburbs lots of house wreaked with heaps of liquefaction which has brought up a ozzing muddy sand to the surface of a lot of streets and house the reports are off a 150,000 tons of this silt with it all being shifted by spade and wheelbarrow for the first few days untill diggers got out into the suburbs. Power restored to 80% of the city but water supplys are very bad still and sewer is pouring right into the main 2 rivers that run through the city as lots of the underground pipes are broken. Latest reports are that 500+ buildings with the 6km square block that is the CBD witll have to be ripped down right away as they are that badly damaged. Have found out that the Red Cross have a donation process on there web bapes and I think this is the best method of donating anything to help out the Chritchurch people who need it the most. As for me and Marg our spirits are lift each day while away, I will be back at work for Pratt & Whitney at the CHCH Engine Center next week as we suffered no damage and still have international airlines who need their V2500 engines back on time. Marg is just waiting for a call back to work from the Christchurch City Council and once back will be very busy with Civil Defence work id guess. Cheers Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaz Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 That is good news KiwiBirkin. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hi KiwiBirkin, Glad to hear that things are looking up for you and your family. Enjoy your vacation and thanks for the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solder_guy Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 horrors on the TV again .. now Japan .. after NZ and Haiti. sounds like they are having a three mile island incident x2 and hopefully not a chernobyl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 After what hit us here in Christchurch I cant even begin to think about something being 8000 time more powerful than that, watching the Tsunami sweep away lives and villages live on TV yesterday just had me in utter despair for the people of Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Hi KiwiBirkin, I was think about you yesterday and woundering if the tsunami affected the west coast of the north and south islands or if it just was a small wave as it was here in Ventura, CA. (about 2 ft high surge). Most people I do not think knew they were watching people die as the tsunami washed ashore live on the TV. I know at first I didn't as it seemed unreal and I do not think that much live footage had been aired to the world like that was and the video crews that were capturing the live footage sure did a good job of not zooming in so people could see people in the water and rubble. My prayers go out to all of those people and I am not all that religious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoPho Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Our family in Japan lives in Nishinomiya in the Hyogo Prefecture which is southern Japan, so they are about 400 miles south of where the earthquake happened. They didn't even know it happened until we called them about 2 hours after the quake. Some of our friends in Osaka (also 400 miles away from the epicenter) did feel it and said it was the biggest they had ever experienced. So far everyone we know in Tokyo area is fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 (edited) I have family living in Yokohama, which is maybe 260-290 miles from the epicenter (about the distance between Palmerston North and Christchurch, I reckon). They described the shaking as significant, with some buildings knocked down in the area where they live, but only a few fatalities. They heard on the radio that the shock wave was coming about 10-15 seconds before it arrived. None of my family or anyone we know were harmed. Big power! - from a Los Angeles Times article: ...data-crunchers had determined that the temblor's force moved parts of eastern Japan as much as 12 feet closer to North America, scientists said — and that Japan has shifted downward about two feet. REF: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-japan-quake-science-20110313,0,5782113.story Edited March 13, 2011 by Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Just a small update on Christchurch lads and a link worth looking at. Christchurch CBD is porked 75% of the buildings within what is known as the 4 avenues (5km block) will be coming down due to them having major structural damage this area has about 54,000 jobs and all these will be gone mostly unless the business's can relocate and that is only if they could get in to get servers and important stuff which they cant due to unsafe buildings. We have been told that the central city CBD and a bit more will not have public access for over 1 year maybe longer the 6 big hotels in Christchurch have all been condemned as well so we have lost over 4000 tourist beds which include some backpackers & motels, this caused Christchurch to lose its 4 World Cup Rugby Games along with our big stadium having bad damage too. 230,000 homes are badly damaged with 100,000 of them being condemned with most of the 100,000 never to be rebuilt on that land again due to liquefaction issues. 70,000 people have left Christchurch and dont plan on coming back. Nearly every road in Christchurch City on the E,W & S side are in need of repair due to movement under the road estimated repairs 38,000 kms of new seal. Still it all pales into significance with what hit Japan but estimates are Christchurch will not be back to normal for 10 years. Have a look at this link showing the damage around the CBD and Christchurch what is doesn't show you the badley damage buildings that haven't fallen down. http://eqviewer.co.nz/index-imagery.html Cheers Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 The extent of the damage and lasting effect is really staggering. Even w/the previous photos, I did not appreciate how devastating this was to CChurch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobone Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 These kinds of events remind us all of the fragility of life and the importance of living life to the fullest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Hi KiwiBirkin, Have not heard from you or any of the other 7 owners in NZ lately and was wondering how things are shaping up for all of you and Christchurch as there is no news about the aftermath and what is happening in New Zealand here in the USA from what I can find. Hope things are looking up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 (edited) Hi Martin Sorry I meant to report in earlier Christchurch is still a mess and will be for a while lots of roads need fixing and all the good Seven roads around the E& S side of the city are stuffed, lots of buildings in the CBD to come down still before the rebuilding can start and the estimate for that is about 2 years. We are still getting some big after shocks with the latest a 5.2 on the Sat just gone but they are less frequent than the Sep 7.1 EQ which helps, still plenty of peoples nerves are fried and Christchurch is estimated to lose 15% of its population over the next year because of the aftershocks and because of job losses due to the EQ as well, they say it will take 10 years to recover this loss . 5.1 might not sound a lot but all the Geotech reports put our 6.1 last month and the one that did all the damage to buildings as 4x more powerful than the magnitude 9 that hit Japan (we didn't get a Tsunami) due to high Gs acceleration through the volcanic rock that we have around us amplified the force 4x and this coupled with old buildings caused havoc with the violent up/down movement it produced rather than a rolling EQ's most places have. Still where ever you go there are people who are helping each other all around the Christchurch region and plenty of people/organizations from around the world helping us too which is really great the support keeps coming. Autumn has set in here now and its turned wet & cold very fast which has meant that Grace has not had a run out for a while, but if the weather improves she will get a run out as soon. I love driving in the autumn with the top down. We have also added another soft top to our cars a 1998 MX5 Vspec (Maiata) which is a great car and Marg just loves it, we are using it as a daily driver so we get out hood down fix a lot more now . Take care Stephen. Edited April 20, 2011 by KiwiBirkin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Hi KiwiB Thanks for the update. It is good to hear that at least you personally are getting back to normal. The real issue with the Christchurch EQ recovery is that the level of damage is massive compared to the resources of the country as a whole. NZ's total population of people (sheep don't count) is about the scale of a large-ish US city. My old work/golf buddy owns and runs an accounting firm in Christchurch and his city centre office was totalled in the EQ although luckily neither him or his employees were harmed. He is learning the hard way how to keep a business going in the aftermath of a catastrophe. Keep up the spirits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Hi KiwiBirkin (Stephen), Good to hear that things are starting to progress even if they are slow. We do not hear about the after shocks that are occurring in NZ as the news here is just crap and sensationalized to make ratings. Not real news as far as I believe. A 5.4 EQ is nothing to joke about and would cause a lot of damage here in my location in Southern California as their are still a lot of old buildings around. Well take care and be safe when out driving around with the top down in either the Miata or the 7. :driving: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 You know it's nice to come here and see this level of support from the community here, one day I'll make a plan to visit the US and make sure I get too meet some of you guys and have a beer or two with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) Managed to finally get out and about in Grace on the weekend and recce some of the roads we used to drive which turned out to be ok it was a stunning autumn day too. I was also experimenting with my GoPro HD using the mode where you can set it to take pictures every 1,2,5,10,30 or 60sec and had it set to every 2 seconds and ended up with something like 1000 pics to look through, here are a couple from the 1000 or so. Really pleased with the picture quality too. Margs having a bad hair day in all off them I think the bike is a Hybusa http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/Kiwibirkin/GoPro%20Pics/GOPR1883.jpg http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/Kiwibirkin/GoPro%20Pics/GOPR1704.jpg http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/Kiwibirkin/GoPro%20Pics/GOPR1886.jpg Edited May 18, 2011 by KiwiBirkin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Couple more http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/Kiwibirkin/GoPro%20Pics/GOPR1900.jpg http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/Kiwibirkin/GoPro%20Pics/GOPR1902.jpg http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/Kiwibirkin/GoPro%20Pics/GOPR1969.jpg http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/Kiwibirkin/GoPro%20Pics/GOPR2287.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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