Any complacent feelings that the serious earthquakes are over were shattered this afternoon. At 1.58pm the earth shook again, with a quake of 5.8 (VI on Mercalli). Stephen and I were relieved to both be at home together. In the kitchen a glass jar filled with bran flakes crashed to the floor, books came out of shelves, cupboards and drawers flew open, and once more everything was in disarray. Amid aftershocks we cleaned up, spoke to neighbours, and generally got over it.
An hour later I asked Stephen to walk down with me to check on the VolCan office. We were on the corner of Gloucester and Barbadoes Streets when the next big one struck (6.0, VII Mercalli). This is the fourth biggest quake we’ve had since 4 September 2010. We clung together to a traffic light pole, without which we might have fallen. A police car had stopped nearby and the man checked we were okay. By now I was regretting my impulse to check the office, but we were almost there. I found many things had fallen over and out of shelves, and my computer monitor had fallen over. The power was still on, the monitor still worked, and I left it lying down – there seemed to be no point in cleaning up the mess.
On our way home we passed a couple who had water pouring from their second storey unit where pipes had broken. The Cottage was a worse mess than earlier. Containers of lentils, barley, split peas, and beans had fallen out and made a glorious mix on the kitchen floor. At least these were all post-February plastic containers, so no glass this time. We swept it all up and added it to the compost bin. There were several breakages – a bowl and a platter I was fond of, and one china teapot. No point in making an insurance claim, but I kept some bits in case they might go on a future mosaic.
Heavy books had fallen on to Bentley’s basket. He had fled under the house, but was soon coaxed out and comforted. We’d seen one dog flying down the road, and wondered when/if he would return home.
All the Malls and Ballantyne’s are shut again. The airport’s closed. This is so hard for people right on Christmas. Personally I just want to stay close to home. At just after 5pm we are still having aftershocks. Enough!
“It’s hard to know just what to say
as couplets seem too trite today.”
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