Christchurch - Boston Globe

'They're going to bulldoze the whole street' - Christchurch earthquake - NZ Herald News

By the way, the "silt" picture represents one of the more obscure side effects of quakes called soil liquefaction, where the land loses consistency allowing water to flow up out of the ground and flood the area.

Soil liquefaction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christchurch earthquake - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Sad and scary. These shots remind me of the destruction caused by the 89 Loma Prieta earthquake in California. (When I lived in S.F. I used to get paranoid walking under bridges and along streets with brick houses.) Personally, I'll take a cat 5 over this kind of risk. At least you see it coming.

I agree. Earthquakes are scary. When I lived on Guam we had them all the time; my coffee cup would travel across my desk with the small ones...largest I ever experienced was a 6.7 and believe me that was big enough. Once I was driving during one and I could see the side of the mountain undulating it was a really weird scene.

I'm more concerned about the local ones:

Map Centered at 32?N, 90?W

Overall though someone is due for a MAJOR upset and most likely it's going to be California. Most geologists agree that smaller successive earthquakes around the world will generally lead to a very large one elsewhere.

I received word from a friend yesterday who grew up in ChCh. He now lives in Northern NZ but has family still there. His mother narrowly escaped injury in the quake. He said about 80% of the city is without water/power and the beautiful center area is destroyed. In facts, a very large portion of the city has major damage beyond repair. The Kiwis are super people and could use our support through prayers and donations. He recommended the Salvation Army NZ if you are interested in donations. There is a FB page for those interested. Click on the Christchurch tab and it will take you to the Salvation Army paypal site.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/GratitudeAppreciationSociety?v=app_4949752878