Started a beautiful peaceful day in Christchurch

Ended with a city full of shattered people

We thought the earthquakes had virtually finished

But we have had over 30 today 🙁

Started early afternoon with a 5.8

Shaking was almost continuous for 2 hours

Including a BIG 6.0, a 5.3, a 5.1 and a 5.0

Peaceful now after an hour without a shake 🙂

My blip is not a good image, but it is taken from home (with whatever lens was on the camera) and shows the dust rising in the square after some more of the cathedral collapsed.

We were all feeling as though 2012 was going to bring some progress with repairs and rebuilds, and life was on the up.

Now, after 7000+ quakes, we are back to square one –

cleaning up the mess

coping with continuing aftershocks

the increased chance of another big quake

more inspections before repairs can begin

and the nerves are shattered again

Not a good Christmas present for Christchurch, but the good news is no major injuries and not too much damage – other than the dreaded liquifaction in the east again 🙁