BRITISH RESEARCHER impressed by 'sense of community' in Christchurch after earthquake.

A British researcher has visited Christchurch to investigate the social entrepreneurs and enterprises that have emerged in the city since the quakes.

Hannah Smith (right) who helped launch the British arm of the social enterprise BetterWorldBooks.com, said her brief was to gain "useful lessons for people in my profession".

She spoke of the "energy" apparent in Christchurch and singled out groups such as Gap Filler, the Ministry of Awesome and Rekindle furniture.

"I haven't worked out yet how you can parachute that into Britain, but I'm sure it's possible. It's a very collaborative approach here - people seem comfortable seeking each other out.

"What happened in Christchurch brought that to the fore, that sense of community, that sense that we're all in this together and we'll fix it together. That's really powerful.

"If I'm able to communicate that, it will be an achievement."

Smith also expected to find the "bad and ugly" in Christchurch.

Social enterprises use business principles to achieve social aims. They use profits to encourage employment, environmental protection, literacy or other issues.

She cited Rekindle, which recycles wood from demolished buildings into funky furniture and uses revenues to train young people in woodworking, as creating "value on several levels".

Social enterprises try to avoid relying on grants for survival, she said. "Social entrepreneurship is a process, an activity, a means of creating social value."

The Ministry of Awesome takes "a very networked approach to social change. It's about creating connections and linking up resources. They are not necessarily a social enterprise but they are very socially entrepreneurial."

Such efforts are often known as "community economic development" in New Zealand, but "social enterprise" and "social entrepreneurship" are phrases now used globally, Smith said.

Wellington will host a social enterprise week in August and Auckland City Council now has a social entrepreneurship adviser.

Smith drew parallels between Christchurch and many British cities.

"What happened here was quick . . . The city had to change overnight. What we have in the UK - in a lot of cities, especially in the north - is industrial decline on a huge scale. There are places that don't look unlike Christchurch. Not that it happened overnight. It's taken decades of factories closing down, a lack of jobs, a lack of opportunities."

United States-based BetterWorldBooks.com collects and sells unwanted books and uses proceeds to fight illiteracy. Forbes says it has 340 employees and revenues were near US$65 million (NZ$82m) a year

Thanks to stuuf.co.nz for permission to use their article.
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Magnitude 8 earthquake predicted in New Zealand.

I came across this article and excellent graphics on stuff.co.nz published last year. After the two major unexpected earthquakes in Christchurch in the past few years, this serves as a reminder we are sitting on the 'Ring of Fire' in New Zealand. Ramp up your preparedness a little more.

June 28, 2012 – NEW ZEALAND – GNS Science and University of Nevada-Renoscientists have found that the southern part of the 800 kilometre-long fault which runs along the western edge of the Southern Alps from Marlborough to Milford Sound causes quakes of around magnitude 8 every 330 years on average. Dating leaves and seeds from a river terrace at Hokuri Creek near Lake McKerrow in far northwestern Southland, just north of Milford Sound, revealed 24 Alpine Fault quakes between 6000BC and the present. Other research has found the most recent was in 1717, meaning the next may be only 30 or 40 years away, based on averages. Professor Richard Norris, from the geology department at Otago University, said the Alpine Fault had the highest level of probability for rupture of any fault in New Zealand. “Westland obviously is at high risk, with widespread damage likely and roads, bridges and other transport links likely to be badly affected (as well as the tourist trade),” he said. The fault crossed the main West Coast road in many places, and with an estimated 8m displacement would completely destroy it. “Intensities further east in places like Queenstown, Te Anau, Wanaka and Mt Cook will be high enough to cause landslips and do damage,” Norris said. “Further east in the major cities of Christchurch and Dunedin, the intensities will be lower but the duration of shaking could still be sufficient to damage poorly constructed buildings…and possibly cause some liquefaction.” Places such as Nelson, Wellington and Invercargill could also expect to feel some shaking. Project leader Kelvin Berryman of GNS Science said “a major earthquake in the near future would not be a surprise. Equally it could be up to 100 years away. The bottom line is, if not in our lifetimes then increasingly likely in our children’s or our grandchildren’s.” The study’s findings, published today in the journal Science, were new and internationally significant, Berryman said. Auckland University biostatics professor Thomas Lumley said the intervals between quakes on the Alpine Fault tended to be quite close to the average interval, with relatively little spread. –Stuff

To taste success, you must also taste dirt,

DIRT AND DANGER: Athlete-turned-author Steve Gurney reflects on what he has lost and gained through the Christchurch earthquakes and by penning a new book

To taste success, you must also taste dirt, multisport adventurer Steve Gurney says.
It is the nine-times Speight's Coast to Coast winner's gritty philosophy on life was what he talked about when he was in Central Otago last month to promote his new book, Eating Dirt.
"Eating dirt is a metaphor and the over-arching message of the book is that you learn from your mistakes.
"To do this, you have to eat dirt a few times, take a few risks and crash off your bike."
In Gurney's view, life has become too antiseptic, especially for children.
"At schools and in sport, we're bubble-wrapping kids and they're missing out on getting the experience of how to judge risk, so that they'll know how to find their limits later in life."
Not that kids should be reckless, he stresses.
"I've done some stupid stuff that deserves death but I'm still here to contribute to the gene pool."
The 49-year-old Cantabrian nearly wasn't, after a brush with death in 1994, when he contracted leptospirosis from bat dung while racing in the Sarawak jungles in Malaysia.
"While I was lying in hospital, and my organs weren't functioning properly, and I thought: this is not too good, maybe I am going to die, I realised you have to do things that really matter to you."
In February, Gurney accepted diversion following a guilty plea to careless driving after his car collided with a passenger train in Rangiora in September last year.

He said at the time: "You don't take that sort of thing lightly. It's been my job for 20 years as an adventure athlete to be aware of danger and recognise danger."
Losing his Redcliffs home in the Christchurch earthquakes has been a lesson in resilience.
"It's been challenging, upsetting to say the least. I even get a bit teary talking about it.
"It's all about resilience. The loss of your house is a good lesson because, as someone famous once said: the only thing that doesn't change, is change itself, and the earthquake is a poignant reminder of that."
In the past 18 months, he has been dividing his time between living in a caravan at his sister's Rangiora property, and his girlfriend's place in St Albans, Christchurch.
Having his world rocked has been a catalyst for change.

"I first got to know Steve in 1987 when we both competed in the Coast to Coast and when I wrote the history of the first 12 years of the race (photo above), I spent a lot of time interviewing him. Steve made the race fun and was always trying to bend the rules with nwe technology." Bob McKerrow

His next adventure, after attempting to cross Cook Strait by kayak in December, will be another kite-buggy trek, of Namibia's Skeleton Coast in Africa. "My goal is to not let it be my skeleton

"But actually part of my philosophy is to never think like that. Always focus on the solution rather than the problem."
A member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to endurance sport, he gave up professional multisport about four years ago to focus on adventuring, along with his work as a motivational speaker and workplace trainer.

 The adventure of the two Steves was temporarily on ice after Steve Moffatt's toes got a touch of frostbite during an ascent of Aoraki/Mt Cook. Steve Gurney, sitting, said it wouldn't be the end of their adventure.



A SERIES OF JOURNEYS

On foot: He has run thousands of kilometres to win multisport events, scaled mountains, even circumnavigating the ballroom in television series Dancing with the Stars. He also appeared nude live on a Breakfast TV interview.

By water: He paddled to victory many times, invented a kayak with wings and an anti-gravity paddle levitation device. He plans to kayak across Cook Strait in December to re-enact famous journeys for a TV show, with adventure buddy Steve Moffatt.

On wheels: He invented a controversial rule-bending pod bike, sailed the Sahara on a kite-buggy, crashing into rocks and ending up in hospital. A near-fatal brush with Borneo bat dung put him in another hospital on a gurney (no relation, the medical type).

By pen: He wrote a bestselling autobiography, Lucky Legs. Eating Dirt is his second book, encapsulating his abiding life philosophy about dreaming big and living at the edge of his comfort zone.

STEVE GURNEY'S TAKE ON ...
Nudity
"We come into the world without clothes and we spend the rest of our lives covering up – what's with that?!"
"I'm all for exploring life's possibilities, while having a bit of fun without offending anyone."
Waxing
"While working on Dancing with the Stars, my partner told me that the female voting public don't like hairy gorillas. I said to her, ‘but I am a big hairy bloke'. I'd also been told waxing hurt. Eventually they wore me down, so I went and had the whole lot done, and actually it wasn't too bad."
Lycra"Having to wear a skin-tight lycra ballroom dancing suit didn't faze me a bit."
"A lifetime lived in lycra is a big motivator not to put on weight because when I do, it doesn't look too flash.

Thanks to the stuff.co.nz for permission to use excerpts from their article on Steve Gurney..

Rapid assessment team training 'inadequate'

A US structural engineer says rapid assessment teams sent out to check Christchurch buildings for earthquake damage did not have adequate training.


As an earthquake responder over many years I am following various reports on the Christchurch with deep interest. This report highlights the need for better training for rapid assessment teams.

The evidence has been heard at the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission which is looking into the failure of the CTV building where 115 people died when it collapsed in a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011.
Structural engineer Brian Kehoe from California told the hearing that the US jurisdiction ensures there is widespread training for assessors on how to look for earth quake damage in various types of buildings.
Under questioning, Mr Kehoe said New Zealand could follow America's lead when it comes to rapid assessment of buildings following major earthquakes.
He agreed that there was a lack of training for teams carrying out these assessments on Christchurch buildings and suggested New Zealand adopt American protocols, particularly regarding unreinforced masonry buildings.
However Mr Kehoe has said the CTV building did not need to be red-stickered following the September 2010 earthquake, because it had not been significantly damaged.
In evidence on Wednesady Mr Kehoe said engineer David Coatsworth followed protocol to the letter while assessing the CTV building.
"On the basis of Mr Coatsworth's field notes, photographs and other records, I agree with his conclusion that the damage he observed to the structure of the building was minor damage at worst and for the most part did not warrant structural repairs."
Because of this, he says further more detailed structural analysis of the building was not necessary.
Mr Coatsworth, who has 40 years experience, said he found no evidence of structural failure during a four-hour inspection of the building nearly a month after the September earthquake.
After requesting the building's structural plans and being told they were not available, Mr Coatsworth said he did not spend time tracking them down because there was no indication of any major structural damage from the outside.
Mr Kehoe says Mr Coatsworth was within his rights to give the building a green sticker without making use of the structural drawings.

Thanks to Radio New Zealand for permission to run this article..

Seven years since Indian Ocean tsunami struck.

What are the Lesson's Learned?

It has been seven traumatic years for those families and friends who lost loved ones in the tsunami. which struck so quickly and silently on 26 December 2004. The grieving goes on, and for many there is no closure as thousands of bodies were never found. But life goes on and if you travel today to the worst affected countries of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Thailand, life in those affected coastal areas can be described as normal. But the recovery goes on in some countries, mainly Sri Lanka, as the 30 years long civil war, only finished in mid 2009. The conflict delayed many housing and community projects that were promised to the affected people.

I started this article in Christchurch New Zealand early yesterday, 23 December. During the day,  four major earthquakes struck. The headlines in the paper merely say:

5.8  5.3  6.0  5.0

My good friend Robin Judkins who we visisted in his severely damaged house  perched on a hill side in Sumner only the day before, dislocated his shoulder when the first quake struck yesterday  and he dived under a table for safety.

But the story in this morning paper about the Indonesian tsunami seven years on, really moved:

Wati, second right, poses for a photograph with her father Yusuf, right, mother Yusniar, left, and younger brother Aris

A girl who was swept away in the Indian Ocean tsunami seven years ago told today how she broke down in tears after tracking down her parents, who had long lost hope of finding her alive.


The 15-year-old showed up in Aceh province's hard-hit town of Meulaboh earlier this week, saying that not long after the wave hit she was "adopted" by a woman who called her Wati and forced her to beg, sometimes beating her and keeping her in the streets until 1am.


When the teenager stopped bringing in money, she was told, "Go ahead, leave ... go find your parents then, they're in Meulaboh."


With only patchy memories about her past - she was only eight when the tsunami hit, an age where most children do not know their relatives' full names - Wati began her search, telling people she thought her grandfather was "Ibrahim."


She met a pedicab driver in Meulaboh, who brought her to a man by that name. Though she did not look familiar, he, in turn, quickly summoned her parents.

The Red Cross tsunami recovery is about to draw to a close. Just last Monday Kristina Kumpala, secretary general of the Finnish Red Cross opened a hospital in Chavakatcheri in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.. With the war finishing in May 2009, the Finnish Red Cross funded hospital could not be started until June 2009. This a was a fine effort by the Finns working with the Sri Lanka Red Cross to finish a large base hospital in just over two years. As I write the American Red Cross are completing a 22 km water pipleline in Galle, in southern Sri Lanka.

Ten days ago when John Ekelund from the Finnish Red Cross visited Sri Lanka, I knew he had worked in Sri Lanka for almost four years on the tsunami recovery operation so I took the opportunity to get  his opinion on a number of issues as I respect him immensely for the work he had done.
" It was the commitment of Red Cross volunteers and staff that gave us the edge," he said. "We also displayed vision, we thought ahead when planning for schools or hospitals and tried to visualise the expanding needs in ten years. So we built for the present and the future and this approach has really paid off."

John was somewhat scornful of organisations that came in and with poor planning, and little liaison with community or local authorities, rushed through construction, took photographs and left, often leaning many liabilities and defects for other to manage.

" The Red Cross built quality houses, hospitals,water systems, schools and clinics and took a holistic approach and when working with communities, we built not only houses but toilets, clean water to each house, livelihoods and even playgrounds for the children." he said.

Since the tsunami struck seven years ago, I have been working on the tsunami recovery operations in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia where I spent four years.

For each of the six solemn  years I have been at a commemoration ceremonies in India, Indonesia, Thailand and last year on 26 December, in  southern Sri Lanka. .I can recall the grief, emotions, wailing, the blank look on faces as famiies floated candles out to sea on rafts, or tied minature lanterns to kites and sent into the night sky in Phuket

I can repeat what I have said and written hundreds of times in praising the Red Cross volunteers, staff, engineers, day labourers, the affected communities in displaying unpreceedented solidarity and commitment in responding and building back better.

But I want pause for a moments and catergorically say that the most important single thing we can do is to capture the lessons learned so we minimise the effects of future earthquakes and tsunamis. Coincidentally as I write this, I am in Christchurch which was severely damaged in September last year and agaiun in February this year. Yesterday I had a look at progress made in the recovery operation and the challenges ahead. I visited a friend who was badly affected, and saw his house tettering on a cliff top in Sumner.


Lessons were captured from the tsunami and the best publication by far is the Tsunami Legacy, and another cracker, A Ripple In Development. Although good, these two publications did not drill in deep enough to where recovery really goes off the rails, and that is in  the poor or weak governance at local, regional and national level.

In the Christchurch Press on Monday 19 December 2011, there is an attack on the 'darling' of  Canterbury's Earthquake Recovery Agency, Roger Sutton the CEO.

On June 11 2011, The Press featured an illustration of Roger Sutton (left) in full armour, riding a horse and brandishing a sword, presumably at all those who stood in the way of Canterbury's earthquake recovery.
In hindsight, the metaphor seems a little over-cooked.
Sutton walked into the job as Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority chief executive with a strong public profile, built on his time in the top job at Christchurch lines company Orion. Since June, he has been co-ordinating the quake recovery, including deciding what land will have to be abandoned and which buildings will be demolished. If Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee is the recovery chairman, and effectively the entire board, Sutton is responsible for the nitty-gritty of shaking hands and fronting up to public meetings. After the February 22 quake, the Canterbury public regularly saw Sutton gesticulating at large diagrams on butcher's paper, describing how Orion's power lines had been munted and how they would be fixed.
The lines were repaired with minimal fuss and many people were suitably impressed.


But his performance since taking over at CERA has received a mixed review, with people in broken homes struggling to find answers often targeting him personally. While Sutton still has many defenders, Cera's Facebook page is littered with criticism of his performance, many mocking his much-lauded communication skills.

One post commenting on Sutton's regular newsletters likened him to being wheeled out like "some sort of old aunty at a wedding" before vanishing again.

Other posts expressed disappointment that he had failed to live up to his reputation as grand communicator.


Sitting in his 11th-storey Christchurch office overlooking the battered central city, Sutton was philosophical about his popularity dip. "I knew from the very beginning it was only going to go downhill," he said.


"By definition, in a role like this you're not going to keep all the people happy all the time. There is huge hurt out there. Some people's lives are really pretty crap."
Making these lives better had been harder than expected. Rogers Sutton goes on to outline his challenges.

The biggest challenge had been making clear decisions about what land can be rebuilt on. Sutton said the complexity of classifying land had been a surprise and had taken far longer than expected.


"When I took the job, there was a view by some that some of those land decisions would be made pretty quickly, and they just haven't."


Knights in shining armour such as CERA's Roger Sutton are only as good as the politician's making the decisions and the space and powers CEO are given to run recovery operations.

But where do world leaders learn about earthquake or disaster recovery operations?


World leaders/politicians need look no further than Bill Clinton or Dr. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto (left) with Bob McKerrow on a joint trip to Simeulue Island in 2007. Photo: Aroha McKerrow

Clinton was special envoy for Tsunami to Koffe Annan and the later to Ban ki Moon, SG of the UN. Dr. Kuntoro was the remarkable Minister for Tsunami.who led a brilliant team of practicioners to complete a massive recovery operation within four years. Did the NZ Government look overseas to see where the could get the best expert advice ? If they had of enticed Dr. Kuntoro and his operations manager Eddy Puwanto, I am sure the Christchurch earthquake recovery operation would have been much speedier. Bill Clinton together with Dr. Kuntoro coined the phrases, 'build back better' and 'breakthrough initatives.' Breakthrough initiatives are 'out of the box thinking' that accelerates recovery, something both the Japanese tsunami and New Zealand's Christchurch earthquake sorely need.

Thanks  goodness that the special adviser to Dr. Kuntoro, was Bill Nicol, who was at the minister's side for 4 years. The former journalist, TV front man, management consultant who has written controversial, yet highly accurate books on East Timor and malpractice in the Australian medical profession, has just completed a book called Tsunami Chronicles. Having worked with Bill and Dr. Kuntoro for 4 years during the Indonesian tsunami, Bill honoured me by letting me look at the first draft. What an amazing book which is written in a style that will guide Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers, other politicians, CEO and in fact anyone that works in a huge disasters. Bill leaves no stone unturned and visited Haiti to see if any of the tsunami lessons learned were applied.. Sadly little was and the book shows that organisations are superb at capturing lessons learned, but weak in applying them.

Yesterday when four major earthquakes hit Christchurch, I saw Mayor Bob Parker on TV, and also Roger Sutton. Parker communicates clearly and you feel you trust this man. Sutton, on the other hand, came across as being sound techically, but not a man that embues confidence, noe a sound communicator.

I feel it not too late for the Mayor of Christchurch, the CEO of CERA, and the Minister for the Canterbury Earthquake, to seek foreign advice on breakthrough initiatives, that would accelerate recovery. In addition, the Government could look at the number of New Zealanders working overseas with vast experience in earthquake and disaster recovery, to come back and lend a hand. It's not too late. This recovery operation in Christchurch will take 10 to 15 years to complete.

Visiting friends and places affected by the Christchurch earthquake

My plane touched down in Christchurch at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. I was last in Christchurch a year ago.

I was welcomed by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake 11 minutes after I arrived. I couldn’t believe it. Flicked on to Geonet and saw this:

Canterbury has been shaken by a 4.4 magnitude aftershock today.
The quake struck at 11.11am, 10 kilometres east of Christchurch and at a depth of 11km, GNS Science reported.
It was felt in eastern Canterbury.

After lunch, Gavin and Ruia drove me in to the Central Business District (CBD) and just a km from Bryndwr where we live we started seeing damaged walls and fences, then some vacant sections, where once proud family homes stood. Many badly damaged houses have been removed. The closer we got to the CBD, the more the damage.. My old pub, the Carlton,was a vacant site, removed after it was badly cracked and structually unsound.

Landmarks in my life were missing as I drove around Central Christchurch. Diggers, cranes and excavators were busy demolishing buildings and disposing of debris. Hotel Crown Plazza in the background. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Brian Taylor, a close friend of mine for 30 years, was killed on this site when the CTV building collapsed on 22 February. The building has been demolished and the slab at the right side of the photo is where the building once stood. I stood awhile, said a prayer for Brian, and thanked him for all he did for me. I talked to Prue, his wife today, and we discussed how yesterday would have been his birthday. Photo: Bob McKerrow

A bunch of flowers on the fenced off wire cordon at the CTV building, brings colour to a solemn scene. photo: Bob McKerrow

Juddy (Robin Judkin's) shows me the gaps and cracks in his house which sustained much damage during the February earthquake. His hillside section has a faultline running through it and there is an errie feeling of 'what next.'  Juddy has been severely traumatised by the damage and the uncertainty that awaits him, and other Christchurch residents. Gavin, Ruia and I walked along the beach with him, and climbed up to his hill-top house and enjoyed a pot of tea and bisciuts. Photo: Bob McKerrow 

Although having a damaged house, a section that may crumble away in the next quake,  Juddy was able to find some humour. As we walked along Sumner beach  we came to a decapitated Shag Rock, he said " let's try and do the first ascent of Shag Rock," now headless and renamed by Juddy as 'Shag Pile.' So Judkins asked me to join him on the first known ascent of 'Shag Pile," a difficult climb on shattered rock. Juddy led up a steep gulley, almost to the summit, which we reached, almost together. From the top of Shag Pile we could see Ed Cotter's shattered house, pictured below. Bizzare humour for bizzare situations.

b

What is left of the home of my old friend Ed Cotter, teeters on the cliff edge above Shag Rock, Sumner. Some houses plummeted down during the February quake, and many of these abandoned houses sit precariously at the edge. Photo: Bob McKerrow

On the left a wall of containers  act as a barrier to falling rocks from the hillside. The houses and buildings on the right are abandoned and very unsafe, Photo: Bob McKerrow

Avonside which is in the Red Area,  has suffered from liquefaction, subsidence and people have no alternative but to move. It will revert back to park lands. Photo: Bob Mckerrow

It was fascinating to study first hand the effects of liquefaction in Christchurch yesterday which is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid loading. Liquefaction and related phenomena have been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world.



The photo above is taken inside a building where I am showing the old and dried layers. In my hand I have my back foot on the layer from the Feb EQ, and my other foot is standing on the new wet layer, which spurted out in the recent June earthquake.
 
Tomorrow, Monday 19 July, I will be meeting NZ Red Cross staff and volunteers who are part of a large team providing grants and crucial services to earthquake affected people in Christchurch and environs. The NZ Red Cross have raised 100 million NZ dollars.

On Friday in Wellingtom I met Junita Douglass at the NZ Red cross HQ. She runs the cash grant programme in Christchurch and i had a chance to talk about the details with her. We had previously met in Aceh Indonesia where she worked for the Bristish Red Cross on livelihood programmes.
 
Photo: Bob McKerrow

There are heroes everywhere - Christchurch earthquake

The are so many stories being told, and so many heroes identified. This article written by Andrew Holden, Editor of the Press is one that moved me.

When the first quake hit I was halfway out of bed. Our six-week-old baby was squawking, and my shift was the early hours.

As the house wrenched, my partner Dairne got to Raffi first. We huddled in the doorway as the 7.1 quake slammed Christchurch.
Much has been written since about our good fortune – that the quake hit when few people were up, and that no one was killed. In the months since, we've endured thousands of aftershocks. We had a plan for rebuilding the city. We were lucky. We are not lucky now.

On Tuesday, general manager Andrew Boyle popped in for a chat. It took only seconds to know this one was massive. The building jerks violently, and we hear crashing stone and brick. Andrew dives under a table, while I head to the corridor and stop a fleeing colleague as splintering glass falls around us. We cower next to a wall, the newsroom a cloud of dust.




Andrew Holden (left) talks to Robert Fisk







When the quake stops, journalists are heading down rubble-littered stairs. Andrew comes out. I dash back in and grab my things. At the building's entrance there's stone lying smashed on the footpath. Staff shout at me to run, worried more stone will fall. I can see the cathedral's spire has collapsed and I know there will be many killed this time.

One reporter has a head wound but says he is OK. The first-aiders gather and start helping. I send a text to Dairne to let them know I'm all right. I look at our lovely old building. Most of it is still standing but half of the top floor has collapsed, the turret hanging. Another jolt has people screaming, and the turret swings and smashes into Andrew's office.

There are heroes everywhere in Christchurch. Here, workers who are building us a new seven-storey home we are due to move into in three weeks, climb on to the roof and dig injured staff out. The finance department is worst hit, and Andrew will spend all hours on the roof with search and rescue, freeing three staff. But they have to leave one behind, and Andrew has to speak with her husband and son, out on the street. But long before then, as I stand with my colleagues, someone touches my shoulder. Dairne is standing in front of me with Raffi. I'd forgotten she was coming to town. We hug, both of us crying: "We're OK, we're OK."

In the next half hour, we move to a parking lot to do a check of names and a clumsy journalistic triage – who can and wants to work, what equipment they have. I try to send them in pairs. Olivia Carville heads to the main pedestrian mall, passing bodies on the way, where she finds a badly injured friend who she comforts until her husband arrives, and later writes an astonishing first-person account.

I drive my family home, the decision to grab my keys now vital. I'm in some kind of cheap disaster movie, only this time it's real. The roads heading into town are clogged, but heading away it's a question of watching for dips or rises ahead, until we get towards the estuary, where Christchurch's particular earthquake weakness, liquefaction, has ripped the roads apart. The bridge is broken, the road a lake. We join a procession of cars finding the only way home, over one hillside with broken homes, and on to the Causeway.

At Redcliffs, rocks have crashed into the back of the primary school and crushed homes. Around the corner to Sumner, the cliff is shattered, its multimillion-dollar homes horribly close to the edge. In Sumner the returned services club has a massive rock lying beside it.
Our home is miraculous – no broken windows, the floor even more creaky than after the first quake, but, by and large, little damaged. We have no power or water, but we have a home. I start the drive back to our new printing plant, just 18 months old. Twice we have had to evacuate there. I spot Olivia. I don't know yet what she has seen but I give her a hug.

All of us know we want to put out a newspaper. Everything we've collected has gone straight to the web, but a paper gives people solidity, a touch of normality. We don't realise it, but with power out few people can watch television, or use the internet. The old media stalwarts – print and radio – are all many have.

I'm writing this on Friday morning, in a whole new world. We are refugees staying with friends out of town, where life is normal. Ours is a story being repeated across Christchurch, as people realise that if they can't help, they are better off somewhere else.

Our newsroom is now swelled by staff sent in from around New Zealand and Australia to help. Yesterday photographer Iain McGregor was in tears. I hugged him – he is seeing things in his home town that no one is prepared for. Our paper is now just a slim volume and we know we'll never go back into the old Press building.

For the moment we'll produce a paper out of a canteen, a couple of offices and a conference room. We don't know the cost yet, there are names of the people who have died, and we know them. Colleagues and friends have homes that are ruined. Rebuilding will take years.

I've been crying – at the experience, and at what I see. They are a tough people here, and it is a beautiful place, but we're in pain just now. But that's no reason to stop.

Tips for preparing for the next earthquake -lessons from the Christchurch EQ

Yesterday my good friend Colin Monteath, send me a note about the Christchurch earthquake and what he experienced. Most importantly he passed on some excellent tips. Coming from a world class mountaineer and polar traveller, I strongly endorse Colin's tips.

Sunday morning....with strong aftershocks still jolting HHH and the entire city every 20 minutes...and all through last night....an eerie calm yet now with sirens & military helos flying overhead. City in total lock down/curfew last night... kaipoi too. Civil defence, police, fire boys, St John, military etc superb....and their job very much on-going now.

Colin Monteath reading a map in the Kelly Range, Arthur's Pass National Park. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Phew! That was a day...and everyone here is still sitting about quite drained in part from the whole emotional experience...and of course realizing just how lucky we all were with only a few major injuries and no deaths. Nine dying in a plane crash at Fox glacier yesterday is in sharp contrast.

That said, the whole canterbury region will be affected for many many months. We have lost/badly damaged many historic features such as old church steeples/old homes. Major building assessments going on and many will be condemned for sure. Roads, bridges and railway lines buckled. Sewage out in many places as is water supply, power back to 90%....makes you think about the basics.

We got power back about 4pm yesterday...so a flood of emails and phone calls for which many thanks.

EQ tips from Colin Monteath

A few points came to mind that may have some bearing on you....(not necessarily in order)

1. 4.30am / winter / cold-dark...(we were outside with almost nothing on...but could return eventually to dress - some got chilled...so, the need for 'instant' warm clothes near the bed, slippers/shoes important to avoid standing on broken glass.

2. Getting people out of the house....some quite traumatised/shocked. We were lucky as HHH is built on solid rock...so violent shaking not bad enough to knock us off our feet ( as it was for many others on the flat) - hence we could get outside quickly. ( At one point after the initial hit I had five women in my bed...so not all bad!!)

3. The need to immediately check neighbours...as there were cabinets, bookcases, chimneys etc down in many homes. People are more traumatized than you think...so, eventually cups of tea etc help. (basic mountain survival skills a huge help)

4. Power off so when it does come back on...the need to check all electrical outlets, fuse boxes etc. Dont use candles in case of gas leaks. Check all gas fittings. If you have gas cooking then the need to have matches handy as electrical sparkers dont work. Access to camping stoves and fuel for extended cooking/heating. Some, with garages built into the hill could not open electric doors to gain access to emergency gear.

5. Keeping headlamps beside your bed...plus a bigger LED lamp...all of which help to regain order/stabilize the situation in the dark. ( Our big lamp is the one I use on my photo/road trips...so, If I had been away, Betty would have had nothing...hence need for at least a 2nd lamp and maybe one stored downstairs)

6. Being winter our heavy drapes were shut...possibly a major help if all windows start shattering.

7. Heavy bookcases bolted to walls...in our case a major help. All loose items came flying...frighteningly,to say the least!! as we were evacuating the house. Do not have freestanding china cabinets etc. Many have kitchens totally trashed as fridges, pantries, dishes cupboards doors come open too easily

8. Check age, stability & grouting of brick or stone chimneys (again, we were lucky...) many including Carys were not.

9. Water: I have talked for ages about getting a 200 litre tank to have in the garden...but not done it. We at least have 50 x 2 litre water bottles in storage in two locations. Our water pipes are very old so it would not take much to cut water for weeks. We now have water again...but have to boil it as it is possibly contaminated by sewage.

10. Cannot use our toilets...so dug toilet pit in garden.

11. We do have some spare food in our mountain gear room...but I need to get more. How long can any of us survive without a 'supermarket'?? ( Some supermarkets operational...others trashed)

12. During communal meal of venison stew ( thanks Wayne for your fiordland deer in rapidly thawing deepfreeze) it was good to have extended family here for a meal as everyone was tired/drained (Carys had to work all day taking pictures for The Press and I went out to take some as well with Richard who took footage for CTV.) Three times during the meal we had to dive under the table...a nice way to meet and talk with grand-children who certainly learned the drill yesterday).

13. Make sure racks of red wine in basement are secure! ( Just kidding...but in our case with a lot of heavy boxes of postcards and books...they need to be stored properly to avoid blocking exits etc

14. Hot water cylinder needs strapping to ensure stability. Header tank in roof needs to be secure to avoid crashing through ceiling/tipping over

Still smiling....Colin

Big aftershocks felt in Christchurch

Some of the largest aftershocks since yesterday morning's 7.1 earthquake are reportedly being felt in Christchurch.

This morning I communicated with Peter Cameron, Regional Director of Civil Defence for New Zealand's South Island. Peter and I worked together after the Tsunami in Indonesia and we keep in regular contact. Peter said "We are getting many aftershocks and we are moving from the chaos stage in the right direction."

Peter and I have been through a number od disasters togethert including the large recovery operation in Yogyakarta, Indonesia that killed over 5,000 people. Often we speak of the chaos stage and it takes 24 to 48 hours fopr emergencty leaders to achieve control. This seems to be happening in Christchurch with strong and decisive leaderships at all levels of Government, civil defence and community.

Staff at the Christchurch civil defence emergency centre said one jolt at just after 1pm felt a lot bigger than recent shocks.

"We had one just now, in the last two minutes, and one ten minutes ago that definitely felt very big. It was very shaky," a spokesperson said.
GeoNet's last reported quake, at 1.04pm, measured 5.0 on the Richter scale and hit 20km north-east of Leeston.

The biggest aftershock since the 7.1 quake measured 5.1, at 5.20am this morning, 10km south of Darfield.

I have been  communicating with my two daughters who live in Christchurch and report of widespread destruction and debris everywhere. Ruia writes, " We are getting many aftershocks, but we are lucky we have water and power." Ruia lives in my house and reports only minor damage and my wine glasses having broken. She came off lighly compared to others. See photo above of severely damaged house.

My other daughter Aroha,She says, "our country is blessed and its a miracle it didn't happen during the day and no one was killed."

NO-GO AREAS
Parts of Christchurch city centre will be "no-go areas" for weeks, Civil Defence head John Hamilton has said.

He said teams of structural engineers were in place, scouring buildings for damage, focussing on those which were critical to the functioning of the CBD.

''It could be weeks [as in] some cases overseas. Until a building has been rendered safe by demolition, in some cases. You just have to keep people away because its too risky.

''The number of buildings that have been damaged is quite high. It's a big task.''

Officials will know later today which schools can be opened.

''Schools are a problem. We don't want to put children into risky buildings. You can't have schools operating if there is no fresh water or sewerage. There is a process in place for checking schools.''

Although two local civil defence centres closed because they weren't needed, he expected demand to increase tonight because of bad weather.

Resources, such as tarpaulins, to make buildings weathertight could be deployed by air, but there was no demand for them at yet, he said.

New Zealand had turned down offers of support from the US military, based in Hawaii, and the UN he said. This was met with surprise, he said.

The army and Burnham and some additional troops in Linton are available to help police but so far weren't required, he said.

Ninety per cent of the city has power, he said, but there are issues in the rural areas with power and drinking water.