I've been trying to find blogger Kirsten Bentley (New Zealand Health Care blog; Neo-Conduit) for some months now -- since the first big quake last September -- without success. She had just had major surgery and one of her children was also having difficulties. I continue to hope that neither health issues nor natural disaster will quiet her voice of advocacy on behalf of patients, both animal and human!
Most likely, blogging no longer seems an important activity...
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| REUTERS: Rescue workers search for survivors at the collapsed CTV building that housed the King's Education School in Madras Street after an earthquake in Christchurch February 22, 2011. The strong earthquake killed at least 65 people in New Zealand's second-biggest city of Christchurch on Tuesday, with more casualties expected as rescuers worked into the night to find scores of people trapped inside collapsed buildings. |
From Yahoo! News:
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – One of New Zealand's biggest cities lay in ruins Tuesday after a powerful earthquake toppled tall buildings and churches on a busy weekday, killing at least 65 people in the country's worst natural disaster in decades.
The quake even shook a massive chunk of ice from New Zealand's biggest glacier, some 120 miles to the east of Christchurch, where most of the damage was reported.
More than 100 people, including as many as a dozen visiting Japanese students, were thought to be trapped in the rubble as darkness — and drizzling rain — fell Tuesday night. Rescue crews with sniffer dogs fanned out across the city in search of survivors, some of whom were able to send text messages or make phone calls from under the wreckage.
It was the second major quake to hit Christchurch, a city of 350,000, in five months, though Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude temblor caused far more destruction than a stronger September quake that struck before dawn on a weekend.
"It is just a scene of utter devastation," Prime Minister John Key said after rushing to the city within hours of the quake. He said the death toll was 65, and may rise. "We may well be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day."
The spire of the city's well-known stone cathedral toppled into a central square, while multistory buildings collapsed in on themselves and streets were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete.
Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, while thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens and car alarms blared. Ambulance services were quickly overwhelmed, and some victims clutching bleedings wounds were carried to private vehicles in makeshift stretchers fashioned from rugs or bits of debris.... [CONT.]
Hi it's Kirsten!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry I fell off the blogosphere we had just too much to manage and then my blog was hacked! Juggling all the hassles we have had at the time blogging went by the wayside. I saw your plea and it bought tears to my eyes, I do apologies for not seeing or responding sooner. Having no family meant I've been doing it on my own through it all, but still trying to see the funny side of life. Our city which is only 3 kilometers from my home is disappearing as buildings are pulled down. We experience major earthquakes every 22-26 weeks and are currently waiting with baited breath for another. I hope you are ok and still holding in there with your beautifully articulate prose and humor.
Kindest regards Kirst xox
Well, hooray! Thanks so much for checking in -- and yes, I guess you have been kind of preoccupied and busy. All my best wishes to you and yours, and to your country and city. Take good care!
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