7.1 Earthquake in Christchurch

P1010018 Yikes. 

Quite a bit of damage in the historic urban core.  7.1 was about the magnitude that caused my 1989 near-death experience in Stanford’s Memorial Church, so I can only imagine what it must have been like in Christchurch’s many historic buildings, such as the Art Centre (pictured here in 2005).

HT has a number of readers in Christchurch, including Dave Welch who writes NZ in Tranzit blog, and who may now be regretting his recent over-reliance on earthquake metaphors.

It’s a beautiful city.  If you’ve never been there, you should visit.  But probably not today.

Hope everyone’s OK, and bravo to everyone’s who’s keeping the city functioning during the emergency.

One Response to 7.1 Earthquake in Christchurch

  1. Brent September 3, 2010 at 10:43 pm #

    Geez! That’s a big one. I rode out the Stanford quake under my dorm bed. Hard to forget.