Christchurch Earthquake

On Tuesday, February 22, 2011 a terrible earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch was hit by a 7.1 earthquake in the middle of the night last September which caused some damage to the city but no one was seriously injured since then there have been daily after shock and many small quakes have hit the city. Yesterday though, another big earthquake a 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Christchurch in the middle of the day around lunch hour, the worst time for one to hit. This quake caused huge damage to the city many water and electric lines are down, many buildings have collapsed, a 26 story hotel the tallest building in the city is on the verge of collapsing. The beautiful cathedral that has been there for over a hundred years suffered much structural damage. It is so hard for me to believe that I was just in this city, in some of the now destroyed buildings, with some of the people that are now suffering just two weeks ago. It makes my heart weep thinking about it. The hospital had to be evacuated because of the quake.

 There are more than 70 people know to be dead and over 300 people missing so far because of the quake. It is so sad to hear about and see so much devastation occur in a place that is now so close to my heart.

We heard today that the motel we stayed in there 2 weeks ago survived the quake but they have no power or water. We also heard that the woman who had made some dresses for Linda's grandchildren is okay and she has been living in another part of town because her home was damaged during the quake back in September. We are still waiting to hopefully hear that our friend Johnny who traveled with us on the South Island and stayed in Christchurch to visit his mom is doing okay as well as hearing that some of the people we met in the ward there are okay. I am keeping them and all others who have been affected by the quake in my prayers and I hope you will join me in doing so.

links to photos and more information on the damage the earthquake in Christchurch caused:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake-photos/news/image.cfm?c_id=1503036&gal_cid=1503036&gallery_id=116929#7381709

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=1502981