Christchurch

For our blog followers who aren't too sure - We are nowhere near Christchurch - and so are perfectly safe.
Wanganui is on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand and Christchurch is on the East coast of the South Island, about 600kilometres away. But thank you for your concern and messages.





We took this picture of the cathedral when we were in Christchurch in December/January. Everyone was so pleased that this icon had escaped serious damage in the September earthquake - and now, with the quake yesterday having been so much more devastating, the spire is shattered and the main church damaged also.









The cathedral spire is down now - sadly, there were tourists inside at the time of the quake and their fate at this time is not known, but the worst is feared. There have been reports of folks getting out safely, but the damage inside the church is massive and the whole place is littered with beams and bricks and general debris which will have fallen from a great height.

If you look closely, you can see the young lady perched on the top of this collapsed building - the rescue was watched by New Zealand about two hours after the quake hit.

It is feared that this building still has many people in it - it's not known if they are alive or not. At the moment, the focus of all of the personnel on the ground is the search and rescue effort. Unfortunately, there are so many buildings in a state like this one, that it could take quite some time to cover them all.

The fears of course, are for any folks who could still be trapped under all this debris.

Some of the pictures coming through are really hard to comprehend.

The news broadcasts are continual - there are rescue teams arriving from Australia, the UK, China and even the USA to support the guys in Christchurch who are overwhelmed with the scale of the rescue that is required. There are still people known to be alive but trapped in buildings and so the emphasis is on reaching them and getting them out.

Of course there are fabulous stories of incredible bravery and sacrifice and heartwarming reports of folks saved against all the odds.

It's hard however, not to feel helpless and wish there was something we could do to help.

Dis al.