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Remembering Feb 22nd Christchurch earthquake.


stonehart

Paranormal Adept
Well today has been a day of reflection for many here in my home town, at 12:51pm on February the 22nd 2011 an event happened that will forever be etched into my memory..

I remember right where I was standing and what I was doing at the moment the Earthquake struck, I remember the building at the intersection I was standing at a few seconds before collapse, I remember seeing a car crushed on the street below a building that had just literally imploded (yes it had passengers in it and a driver). I remember the fear and the people screaming.... It was like this all around the city.... images you can not forget... I remember running across town looking for my partner because all communication was out.. no phones, cell phones ... all cut and I was desperate to find her and make sure she was ok. I remember helping people here and there... I remember the dust and the aftershocks and the messages hours later that friends had died.

I would like to think we are now stronger for these events, but who can really tell five years on the city still looks like a war zone in places...

What I have learned is to value each day as a gift and my partner and friends the same... value the simple things as nothing else really matters.

People matter... everything else can be rebuilt.

 
You survived nature who can turn any city into a war or disaster zone in an instant. What you lived through sounds terrifying and traumatic. The first thing that actually came to mind when I read your post was people getting bombed in all the cities of Syria, once whole, now cracked open into rubble.

Truly the great priority in this life should be the sanctity of human life. Nature is the great reducer, reminding us of what matters most - other people, seeing the faces of the people you love alive and safe.

But there is also something deeply disordering of watching the city you live in deconstruct before your eyes. We are such creatures of habitat. Your favorite places in the city, your home - these also have deep meaning. Seeing them fall to pieces has got to be psychologically devastating as well. Questions of where do I belong, where is safe come to mind.

Teaching yourself to value the simple primary things in life is an excellent way to bring mindfulness and presence to your life. Nothing like trauma to knock you out of the usual stupor of urban living in the digital age. Lots of good wisdom in your post, Stoney. Thanks for putting that out there.
 
Having experience a few NZ earthquakes myself i understand how you feel.
I once experienced a 5.2 one in 1989 here in australia. But i was 48 floors up in a highrise at the time, pens rolling across desks, windows shimering as they twisted in their frames. Just no way out of the building that i had visions of cracking in half and plunging 48 floors to the ground below.
Women screaming the whole shebang.
 
Having experience a few NZ earthquakes myself i understand how you feel.
I once experienced a 5.2 one in 1989 here in australia. But i was 48 floors up in a highrise at the time, pens rolling across desks, windows shimering as they twisted in their frames. Just no way out of the building that i had visions of cracking in half and plunging 48 floors to the ground below.
Women screaming the whole shebang.

Its funny i remember looking at the safe (i was working for the swiss bank corp) and it was big enough to hold two people standing up, BIG walk in safe. And thinking should i climb in and shut the door, i knew i wouldnt survive the kinetic energy a 48 floor fall would generate but i figured it might give me some protection from being mashed by debris.

But by the time i thought this it had stopped. i remember walking out to the Forex desk, and just as the screaming subsided, one dealer who had done a stint in Tokyo loudly announced " its the aftershocks that will bring the building down" all hell broke loose and everyone took an early mark.

Except me, i had to stay and babysit the evening computer run and then shut her down and secure her for the night.

Lets just say the boardroom fridge and the chairmans liqour cabinet took one for the team that night.

The chairmans 100 year old cognac did wonders for taking the edge off

But i can tell you sitting close to 50 floors above the street waiting for those aftershocks was an experience and a half

The chairman was an odd man, he had an elaborate train set and diaroama in his office. i started the evening computer run, and then sat in his chair drinking his exquisite cognac and playing with the trains
 
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