From commentor Royston Vasey:
113 confirmed dead in Christchurch. This number will go up.
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75% of city back on power
50% of city back on mains water
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Not only has this earthquake been terrifying and traumatising for the people of Canterbury, it has also affected our animals. They are scared too.
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Hundreds of people and their animals are affected and displaced by the earthquake. It is with this in mind, the SPCA Canterbury has set up the PET EMERGENCY EARTHQUAKE FUND to help people and animals in distress over the coming weeks.
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All donations from the PET EMERGENCY EARTHQUAKE FUND go towards the additional costs needed to support the health, welfare and care of the large numbers of affected animals in Canterbury.
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Tony in NZ
Royston Vasey
Thanks Anne!
Appreciated.
Tony in NZ
Ana Gama
The photos from Boston.com are unreal.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/02/christchurch_earthquake.html
Ana Gama
@Royston Vasey: My best wishes to all of you in Christchurch.
Royston Vasey
Link to Video of Christchurch and suburbs (1.44)
No further rescues for 45 hours now.
228 people are still listed as missing
As many as 22 tourists are thought to be buried in the rubble of Christ Church Cathedral and its spire.
The Bishop of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews, said staff, including Dean Peter Beck, escaped the building but authorities believed up to 22 people could be still under the wreckage.
Hundreds of people visit the 130-year-old cathedral every day – most of them tourists – and it is feared many were inside when the 63m spire collapsed in the quake.
Zoe J
Can someone provide either more instructions on how to make an international call to donate? I am totally unclear on what steps to do with the number provided at the link for the pet fund.
The other thing is might someone reputable, say the folks at John’s favorite pet rescue site set up a collector fund to then shoot my to that bank account in a few days? They could take like a small cut for their facilitation?
Violet
I read that a bunch of visiting Japanese students were trapped in the CTV building. So sad for their families and for everyone.
Thanks for the update from Christchurch. Glad that essentials like water are starting to return. Not having electricity is an inconvenience (except for those who need it for medical reasons) but not having water can be life threatening.
PPOG Penguin
The SPCA fund doesn’t seem to be set up to take online donations at the moment. I’m trying to get something set up so that they can — I’ll post the link if it comes off.
Thanks Tony for posting about this.
Royston Vasey
Amateur Videos in the aftermath
Video of Cashel Street
Video of Lichfield Street and High Street
600 Urban Search and Rescue personnel were on the ground from NZ, Queensland, NSW, Japan, UK, Taiwan and Singapore. American team due about now.
Ninety international students and staff from private training school King’s Education are believed to be inside the flattened CTV building.
Australian and Japanese searchers are continuing to work at the site.
A number of Chinese nationals (nurses) are believed to have been in class when the building was flattened, China Central Television reported on its website.
The March 8 NZ census has been cancelled following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, Statistics Minister Maurice Williamson says.
Announcing the decision in Wellington this morning, Mr Williamson said holding the census would be unfair to the people of Canterbury and that the data might not be reliable.
Tony in NZ
Royston Vasey
@PPOG Penguin: Thanks for that!
@Ana Gama: Much appreciated
Skepticat
I just this moment got an e-mail from Canadian friends in New Zealand during a months-long trip around Australia, NZ, the Pacific islands, and other exotic locales. They were due to go to Christchurch the day after the quake but say that’s a bit of a problem because their hotel collapsed. They and a number of other tourists are doing their best to adapt and avoid becoming refugees themselves, and the picture he draws of the devastation is beyond comprehension.
I know that the Kiwis are strong people and will come through well; I just wish it weren’t necessary. Glad to see that Royston has good priorities, too!
Royston Vasey
@Royston Vasey:
Photo of Cashel Street before the quake. Most of these shop fronts and awnings look like they collapsed.
Photo of Lichfield Street and High Street before the Quake. If you look at the video, you’ll see that the building on the left is destroyed.
lamh32
This is OT Guys but I don’t know where to put this.
It’s already started, but for anyone who just can’t wait to see this on PBS next month, the White House is live streaming “In Performance at the White House: Motown”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
Mary G
@Royston Vasey: This is all heartbreaking. It will go on for years, too, in some ways. Are there a lot of people sleeping outside because they are afraid to be inside?
The Los Angeles Search and Rescue should be there now. They have 74 firefighters, dogs & handlers, geologists, engineers, etc. and they have a huge amount of experience – Northridge, Whittier, San Francisco, China, Indonesia, Haiti. If anyone can be found and rescued, they are likely to be able to do it. They are bringing something like 50,000 pounds of equipment. Despite the 23-hour plane flight, they plan to swing into action as soon as they hit the ground.
And they are all funded by us bleeding heart liberal taxpayers here…somewhere a wingnut is fuming because it’s such a waste to keep them around all the time.
Annamal
Another good place to donate:
New Zealand Women’s refuge.
They lost their Christchurch office and are likely to be more needed than ever in the coming months.
http://www.womensrefuge.org.nz/
Also Karen Healy (who writes fantastic YA fiction and sets her novels in Christchurch) is offering galley copies of her newest book (not due out in the US til September) to
the person with the highest red cross donation.
http://karenhealey.livejournal.com/923125.html
Tractarian
Hey, I have a crazy idea. Let’s donate to charities benefitting people instead!
toujoursdan
Also, you can donate to the New Zealand Red Cross and earmark it toward Christchurch New Zealand Earthquake relief.
http://www.redcross.org.nz/cms_display.php?st=1&sn=13&pg=70
Annamal
Tractarian, you can do both. We are (or at least we like to think we are) a first world nation, no-one is going to be left to starve on the streets as a result of this but a lot of people are going to be left in dire financial straits and a lot of animals are going to be left homeless as a result.
If it helps, think of it as helping the owners of pets.
Ruckus
Best of luck to everyone in Christchurch. To say the least, major earthquakes are not fun to experience but to loose friends and relatives makes it hundreds of times worse. Christchurch is one of my favorite places in the world, especially because of the people and I hope that character they have carries them through this.
Annamal
Really good account of living through the earthquake here:
http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/zpotts/2011/02/earthquake
Troy
From about an hour after the quake hit until yesterday morning Australian TV was showing pictures live from Christchurch. Seeing rubble that has crushed temporary fencing that was there from the September quake, and buildings that are standing only because of scaffolding (again because of the previous quake) just makes such an impact.