NZ … Earthquake Devastation

Monday, 14 November 2016
Gulf Waters RV Resort — Port Aransas, Texas

So, so sad … New Zealand has been hit by a major earthquake … make that three earthquakes in the span of two days … and countless aftershocks that will continue for the foreseeable future.

The first quake was on Sunday (Monday there) just after midnight … it was a magnitude 7.8 and it hit north of Christchurch … fondly referred to as ChCh.  The second one, at 6.2, was a little less powerful, but major nonetheless … around 2:00a this morning.  The third one rattled the country also this morning … around 7:00a … magnitude 5.8.

The only good news in all this is that the death toll is nothing like the aftermath of the earthquake that hit the country in 2011 … the loss of life was limited to two people this time.  But the images of the devastation to roads and infrastructure in the countryside seems worse … maybe because we were in New Zealand for six weeks just last year, and many of the hard-hit places are familiar to us.

In a video I watched, Route 1 to Kaikoura, now completely blocked off by landslides, was immediately recognizable as the place where we stopped to check out a fur seal colony.  Wellington port, where there are reports of liquefaction, was where we got off the ferry from Picton … the ferry terminals at either end are now closed pending studies to determine if they remain safe.  ChCh, which endured so much destruction in 2011, was where we strolled the streets and saw for ourselves the results of the fury Mother Nature had unleashed on the city four years before.

It will take time and a whole lot of money — billions by initial estimates — to clean up and get things back to normal again.  But the Kiwis are a hardy bunch.  They will overcome this challenge as they have others.  And we will help them with our tourist dollars when Insignia calls on seven ports in New Zealand in February.

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