Monday 22 July 2013

The next time

I was debating whether to blog about this seeing as this is a craft blog and all, but I think it rates a mention. Yesterday, Wellington, the place where I have lived longer than anywhere else, the birthplace of my children, the city that I love, was shaken twice by quite decent earthquakes.

Photo source: Fairfax Media

Living in a city that spans a fault-line capable of generating an 8M+ quake, and seeing how events have played out in Christchurch, Wellingtonians, I think, are pretty cognisant of the damage a major earthquake can unleash and if there were any complacent people left in this city, I think this has been the wake-up call that was needed.


The first quake, a 5.8M at 7.17am, was merely a nuisance, since I had been dozing quite happily in bed. The girls had been entertaining themselves quietly and hardly noticed a thing. There was no chance of my heart returning to normal resting rate after the 6.5M that rumbled through at 5.09pm.

5.09pm - the time that is scorched in my brain, as I huddled in the doorway of our lounge with my husband and our two youngest girls, feeling the join in the floor moving in two separate directions and watched as my eldest daughter ran panic-stricken from the lounge right to an area of the house that is the last place to run to in an earthquake.  You try to protect your children from ever experiencing the kind of terror that was reflected in Sienna's eyes and yet, there was nothing I could do about this except talk to her, talk, soothe her, hold her. We waited for the ground to stop shuddering beneath our bare feet, which was only 20 seconds or so, and then tried to carry on as normally as possible for the rest of the evening.

Wobbly-voiced, our children searched our faces for an assurance that there would be no more shaking. We didn't lie. We promised we would do everything in our power to protect them always. What we didn't say was that sometimes even that will not be enough.
This image chilled me.  My girls and husband were in this building just the day before
If there is anything that I learnt about yesterday, it is this - this quake has shown me that people can, and do, react differently in emergencies and not always in the ways that you'd expect. No matter how many times we drum into our children where the safest places are to take cover in a quake, there is no guarantee that they will react calmly and follow The Plan. The next time, we will be a little more prepared.

I am grateful that the quake did not cause any fatalities or serious damage to infrastructure. I am also well aware that next time - and we all know this can happen again at any time - we may not fare so well.  It is comforting to know that some of our family and friends experienced this with us.  I know that the people of Canterbury walk with us too, because when all is said and done, it is the kindness and compassion shown by others that will help get us through this the next time.

18 comments:

  1. I am glad you and your family are safe and that you shared this with us. I have little ones too, and that is my fear.. the plan will not be followed b/c of fear.. I hope your little girl is doing ok.

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    1. Thanks Nikita, I'm glad you can take that lesson out of this. As Miriam says below, we cannot control how others react, I just hope that if I am not with my children, there will be someone else with them who will guide them to safety.

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  2. thinking of you, I so agree people just react however their body makes them and there isn't much you can do about that except show love and kindness and reassurance xxx

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    1. Miriam, having grown up with earthquakes seemingly all the time in Taranaki, I thought I had a little understanding of what you are enduring in Christchurch, albeit on a much smaller scale, but this really did have me shaking long after the tremor stopped. I guess it is because now I am responsible for other small people, so it is vastly different going through something we have no control over. I am encouraged by your positivity and resilience despite all you have been through down there, and it does help to read how you have dealt with things.

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  3. Glad you're all ok and aware and prepared x

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    1. Thanks Leonie, hoping for a quieter night tonight, it's amazing how tired you can feel once the adrenaline wears off!

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  4. As you know my little family have been through the ChCh quakes and now these ones. I'm back on full alert but always feel not 100% prepared. People do react differently. My 6 year old girl was smiling and looked excited (the earthquake pro) as we all huddled under the dinning room table(we had just started dinner), yet my Mum (from Blenheim) was crying wondering what it was like in her hometown. I cross my fingers that there won't be a next time but I see earthquakes being a part of NZer's lives for some time to come. Hugs. xx

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    1. You have coped with so much stress, Sus. There was a higher level of irritated adult voices in this house afterwards, it's amazing how the quake put us all on edge. We need to recognise it is just the stress and take care of ourselves and be kind to each other.

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  5. I am really glad you decided to blog this. I have cousins who were also in the earthquake. I think you have had an experience that many parents luckily do not have to the have. We all know that we are there to protect our children but rarely, other than teaching our kids to cross the road, do we have to actually do it. I had a similar experience with a housefire. You do all you can do, and you handle it the best you can. But as a parent it is frightening. I found myself asking myself: what if we had not had a fire plan? What if we had gone to a different room?.what if....Curse the what ifs. You did good. You are teaching your daughter that be frightened is not a weakness and how you deal with it is what determines the kind of person you will become. Life can be scary and sadly we can't protect ourselves or others all the time xxx (((hugs)))

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    1. Your comment actually brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for giving me such a reassuring virtual hug, I really felt it. I agree with the "What if" questions, it pays not to dwell on those. I hope your cousins are also faring okay. They probably won't be recommending Wellington as a place to visit any time soon.

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  6. Thinking of all you guys down there and hoping that things are getting less shakey. I can imagine Mia would react simlary to S as she runs around like a chicken if she is crossing a road and sees a car. Wake up call to get ready for us when we get back!

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    1. It's probably a good thing you were out of the region, I certainly wouldn't want to see that look on Sienna's face again in a hurry.

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  7. So glad you are safe. Across the ditch in Melbourne, I was thinking about all my friends and virtual blogger friends in New Zealand. Take care.

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    1. Thanks Jane, I ran some errands in town today, quite eerie to be in a place that is normally bustling with people and seeing it more or less deserted. At least I found a carpark easily!

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  8. Oh I do hope everything calms down in your region...such a scary thought in light of the chch earthquakes, and now with Wellington, I think as a nation we are all too aware now that it can happen anywhere. x

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    1. You have the right attitude, hope you have got an emergency kit, including a crochet hook and some yarn, then you could have something to do when the power is off :). At the very least, talk to your children about where you would all meet up if something happens when you are all separated.

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  9. Just having a blogging catch up and reading this - brings tears to my eyes. You are a wise and lovely Mum. Big hugs.

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    1. Hope you are feeling better now, Roz. I am not known for being melodramatic, but I went back and read over what I wrote as I worried I may have sounded over the top, but I stand by everything I wrote. Obviously, it was nothing on the scale of what you continue to experience down south, I am in complete awe of the resilience of Cantabrians x.

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