I want to report to the people at home that, yes, there was a 7.1 earthquake in Christchurch this morning (initially reported as 7.4, and later revised), but Claire and I -- and, as far as I know, all of Wellington and the North Island-- are fine. There are no casualties reported, thankfully, but the Christchurch and surrounding area has suffered major damage, including to water and power lines, and it's been declared a state of emergency. Prime Minister John Key has given the initial estimate of total damages as NZ$2 billion dollars but notes that it is still early. Luckily, everyone I've talked to has been able to get in touch with their friends and family down in Christchurch, so at least there is that.
For those of you who would like to know more, NYT and Washington Post have articles with summaries of what happened (here and here, respectively), as the does BBC over here. For Kiwi news sites, Libby directed me to Stuff, which has several articles up, including an initial report (Huge earthquake rocks Christchurch). Other NZ sites apparently include Scoop and the New Zealand Herald. (Fair warning: I haven't been following these prior to this morning, so I can't really vouch for general consistency.)
It's a bit tough to follow up news of a national disaster with any trivial comments on what's going in my life, so I think I'll just leave it at that--
Day Forty-Two: Still alive.
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