February 22 2011

It's odd to think that it has only been 1 year since the February 22nd earthquake in Christchurch.  Life seems very different now.  The weekend before the quake I was out hiking in the Southern Alps, enjoynig a typical weekend.  On the 21st, I was in the city at the CTV building, approximately 24 hours before the quake.  I remember some loud construction outside, but otherwise things seemed normal.  On February 22nd, I was planning to have lunch at the University Staff Club. 

My lunch setting is shown to the left.  We were on the second floor.  I remember having a meat pie and I think stew was the special for the day.  The earthquake happened and did not seem like it was substantially out of the ordinary, after experiencing aftershocks since my arrival in New Zealand.  It was longer and stronger than I had experienced.  As people evacuated the building, I contemplated sitting back down and finishing my lunch (as I said, there wasn't any strong warning signs of danger for me).  Luckily, there were smart people around that forced an evacuation.  I grabbed my meat pie and left.   

I was a little surprised to see that the school was closed and all buildings had been evacuated.  The mood was generally chearful, except for some worried parents.  It is very odd to say, and I feel ashamed to say it, but the rest of the day seemed like a snow day... a free day away from work.  Power and water was out, so we had no idea that there was so much destruction in the city.  In the evening we went for a walk into the city to see what was going on.  Many brick buildings had collapsed.  However, since no one had died in the first earthquake, my mood was still generally chearful and my adrenaline was flowing.  I had no idea what the real consequences were.  It was the experience after the earthquake that may have been the most painful.  Spirits in the city were down.  Everything was closed.  Many were without power, water, or sewage management.  We joined the Canterbury Student Army to help shovel silt out of people's houses/driveways/walkways.  It was painful to meet people that had lost their homes.  It was a little bit of a confusion as to what to do with time.  It was difficult to concentrate, so work was not a good option.  Eventually, we left the city, figuring that we would do more good by using less of the city's resources and selfishly, I wanted to see the west coast of New Zealand before leaving the country for a new job.  It is painful to remember the aftermath and strange to remember the positive mood that I had on Feb 22nd.  I wonder if snow days have instilled a positive feeling in me for when a natural event causes work or school to close for a day or more, without really thinking of the possible consequences.