When a City Falls

Those of you overseas may be particularly interested in watching this trailer for a documentary filmed in Christchurch following the two massive earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011. When a City Falls is going to be screened across New Zealand later this month, so I'll definitely let you know what I think of it then.

Christchurch Clippings

It's honestly very easy to forget about Christchurch. I listen to national news literally as a full time job, and the mentions of Christchurch are becoming fewer, and rarely are any stories emotionally affecting. Today was slightly different in that I heard Media 7's Russell Norman talking about his recent trip to the city. I've just read his blog post too, which I recommend you find here.

"Back along the fenceline, a middle-aged workman takes pride in showing his younger colleague the smooth repair job he has done on a half-metre section of the gutter in front of the casino. It seems a preposterously small victory – but what do you do?"

A Telethon was held over the weekend, and raised a lot of money for the earthquake recovery fund. I watched about ten minutes of it- other things to think about. I kind of think it's both sad and comforting to know how quickly people move on with their lives.

On a light note, how pretty does our nation's pride and joy Anna Paquin look in the below photos taken in Los Angeles during the Telethon screening? Said with only a hint of facetiousness. You should've heard the media's excitement surrounding Rachel Hunter's involvement.

Read my earlier posts on the Canterbury earthquake here and here.
Christchurch image source.
Anna Paquin image source one.
Anna Paquin image source two.

"Life is Beautiful"

Still taken from this video.

Earthquake Update

Today has been really, really hard. I'm actually amazed at how affected I feel- I don't personally know anyone missing or deceased but I have a knot in my stomach that doesn't go away. I guess that's partially due to the fact that I'm immersed in the news reports at work, but also I can't think of anything similar that's happened in my lifetime. I've been well aware of many similar (and far larger) tragedies overseas, and other incidences of mass loss of life within NZ, but nothing like this. Wellington has been told for years to expect 'the big one', and to be honest, we all breathed a sigh of relief when the September earthquake hit Christchurch- it wasn't us, and even better- they all survived. Now only a few months later, it's happened again and there are many who haven't survived. It's disturbing and unsettling in a way I can't really describe.

We powered through hours of broadcast at work today, and I didn't find it too difficult to just go-robot and type away. Focus on all the details I'm required to record, and block out everything else. Watching the Prime Minister's speech was strangely emotional and patriotic. There's a few people at my work with immediate family in Christchurch, and so far they are all okay. It's strange; to be in an environment for eight hours where news on earthquake recovery is priority number one and tension is easily felt, and then to step out into the sunshine this afternoon and walk around with people laughing and scores of 'first year' University students stampeding along the footpaths with their tell-tale lanyards.

I've seen a lot of insensitive stuff on Facebook and Twitter. I can absolutely understand the international Twits getting sick of the #eqnz hashtag- did NZ come to a standstill for any overseas tragedies of the last few years? No, I absolutely don't think so. We felt sad for the families of deceased, and then went and bought a new lipstick. But it creeps me out to see nonchalant posts from fellow Kiwis, a couple of whom I really consider friends.

I really am fine- upset, but fine. I had a coffee with my aunt straight after work, and that was perfect, very grateful for her thinking of me. I don't believe in god, and I don't believe in prayer. But I'm thinking of people in Christchurch 24/7. It's pretty exhausting, but absolutely nothing in comparison to what people are going through down there.

I'm sure in a few days I'll be back to my usual posting-self, it's just a bit difficult today. Charlie's friend Matt is arriving today from Australia, so I'm looking forward to a beer with them when he finishes work.

• Amazing, disturbing photos of the earthquake here (is also source of featured photo by Asher Trafford).
• Video shot immediately after the earthquake here.
• Heartbreaking account of the earthquake from a survivor here.

Earthquake

Another huge earthquake hit Christchurch a couple of hours ago, and tragically this time there have been multiple fatalities. I was at work in Wellington and a few of us felt the earthquake, but just very slight swaying- we didn't realise that it actually had been an earthquake until the report came through. Wellington's on a separate island to Christchurch, about 400km away I believe. Had to leave work to meet a friend at the end of my shift and have a lot of work to do tonight. Is super difficult to stay focused though, keep turning back to the live TV coverage which has been horrifying. Had a big cry before and cuddled Wallace- I've cried before over tragic international stories, but it's so different when it's in your country, and news footage is full of fellow New Zealanders. Just seeing the familiar Police and Fire Service uniforms on workers attempting to rescue people trapped in collapsed buildings makes it very, very real. Thankful for now that the few people I know in Christchurch are alright, but who knows who could be there on holiday. I don't think there will be many people in NZ who don't know someone affected by this.

International readers, if you want to see more go to news website Stuff here, or the Twitter stream is here.
Image source here.

Update: 65 people have been confirmed dead so far.

Update: There's a list of missing people here. Thanks for your comments- it is fortunate that while we have a very small population, the country's physical size isn't as small as people overseas probably think. Basic geography lesson? Alright then.

NZ is two main islands; North and South. I'm sure if you're not familiar with the layout of the country, you can do a quick Google and see that the two islands are quite long but not terribly wide, and together make a bit of a banana shape. The earthquake occurred in Christchurch, which is (very) roughly in the middle of the South Island, close to the east coast. My city, Wellington, is at the very bottom of the North Island. We felt the 'quake very slightly here, though many people I've spoken to didn't feel it at all. Fortunately maybe around 2/3 (possibly more) of the country's population live in Wellington or north of Wellington (Auckland is our largest city by a large margin).

I absolutely cry for the people still missing, those confirmed dead, and all their family members and friends. I think we can be thankful that it happened in quite a flat city, where the population is spread out, but that's of little compensation. Also, it's so awful that these people survived the other huge 'quake in September, followed by months of literally hundreds of aftershocks, only to have this happen.

Also, am not meaning to be patronising with my geography lesson! I just understand that it's hard to imagine somewhere if you haven't been there. I used to have a penpal in Fiji, somewhere I've never been, and which in my mind was the tiniest country- so when there was a natural disaster there I imagined she would have felt the effects of it, and then it turned out she was a surprisingly large distance away- maybe I'm just ignorant!

Has been great to see everyone communicating online following this earthquake- Twitter is an amazing tool in such events. I'm going to get ready for work now- I imagine it's going to be a very trying day monitoring new developments. Hopefully there will be trapped survivors rescued; could do with some happy tears. Even doing this minor-media job, where I'm viewing and listening to news all day but not actually reporting or researching, makes me realise I could never be a journalist. The TV coverage has been absolutely incredible, and I have huge respect for TV3 anchorwoman Hilary Barry. If you come across any videos of her online from yesterday, check them out. She was on air almost constantly for many hours yesterday and did a phenomenal job.

Okay, work for real now!

Update: Our Prime Minister John Key has declared a national state of emergency here in NZ, and it is reported that 75 bodies have now been recovered.