Hi from Christchurch!
I'm on the western edge of Chch and luckily my power hasn't been out at all since the quake but have had texts from others saying theirs is. So far no damage to the house, bookshelves fallen over, ornaments on the floor and doors, drawers and blinds been opened during the quake. Only one ornament broken- my giraffe has been beheaded so nothing to worry about really.

Very scary this morning though, woken up at 4.30ish by a extremely loud rumbling, sounded like a plane flying very low just above the house. Then the whole house shook and moved violently for about 10-15secs I think [not sure really,could have been longer], doors were slamming open and shut, the furniture was banging against the walls and the window blinds were flapping around. It's amazing how much the house can move and still stay upright! We then had aftershocks every 5-10mins or so which gradually decreased in violence. Last one was very mild, about 30mins ago.

Hope everyone else in Chch is ok and that you've all been as lucky as we have been

Had a look at the news and can't believe how much damage there has been. It felt bad but since we got off lightly then I assumed it maybe wasn't as bad as it seemed We do have a new[ish] house though

Glad you are safe Persephone - woken by son telling us, as he'd seen it on tv. Scary stuff...they have declared a state of emergency but all those interviewed seem very calm. Lots of people thought to be in shock as well...hospital has power. 7.1 is figure being quoted now.

State of emergency has been declared. The original quote from mayor Bob Parker was well out of synch with what has really happened. There are a number of buildings that have totally collapsed. What is spooky is that ChCh should not get this type of event. A seismi expert was saying it is well off the alpine fault. The pics of destruction on the TV are awful. 2 seriously hurt thus far. Alas foul weather is shortly to hit the area. This is a major event.

Thinking of all in Christchurch xxx

FIL just rang us. BIL's house in Halswell is destroyed.

BB

scary watching it on the news hope everyone is ok xxxx

OMG, terrible thing. Hope you Cantabrians are all ok. They're running it on the news here, showing some terrible pictures of the buildings that have collapsed.

Who'd have thought such a massive, shallow quake could happen in Christchurch? So many must've been unprepared for this.

I hope everyone is okay

I have a friend just outside Christchurch and all is well there at the moment but were still feeling the aftershocks.

June

Still having minor shakes every 20-30mins but nothing compared to this morning. We're on the west so closer to the quake but seem to have got off unscathed. Is anyone else from Chch on here yet?
Filled lots of pans with water just in case

Hi from Rangiora

It was horrendous, like being in a rocking cradle, I was sooooo scared. I hate these aftershocks, there was another one a few mins ago about 11.20. It is like thunder and then the house keeps shaking. Our house has stood up to the quake, we still have water and power although my daughter from Kaiapoi is with us as they have no water or power. Driving over there this morning, there were cracks in the roads and police everywhere. Stuff was falling over and getting broken. I wish I was back in the safety of the UK. Although we are one of the lucky ones it is not a nice place to be at the moment!

Sounds awful...thinking of you all...it's going to be a weird few weeks in the clear-up period.

People in UK about to come over, seriously think about this...do you want to live your life with this constant threat?

Hope everyone is ok... Sumner not been affected, although Lyttleton harbour has been badly damaged and it's only 15mins away eek! actually thought we were being burgled by a large herd of horses Tray

Thinking of all of you down there, especially those who won't see this as they are without power. Watching the news truly shocking.

As everyone else has said, I do hope all of you down in the Christchurch area are OK & there is not too much damage or disruption for you all. Also hoping that the people that have been injured make a speedy recovery.

A state of Emergency has been called.

It must have been extremely frightening for you all down that neck of the woods. I know it was scary here and we are up in Nelson 430 Km away.

At 4.30 am this morning we were woken by the cylinder in our airing cupboard banging away as though it was gaining a head of steam to explode. The house was wobbling as though built on jelly. The light fittings were swaying. I was out of that bed with clothes flung on and down those stairs like a jack rabbit.

Thankfully for us , up here, that was the end of it . It must have been truly horrendous to have felt aftershocks , not knowing how bad they could be.

It's a wake up call for us. We have our emergency stuff about the place but after that I can see we need to do more....just in case.

For all of you down in the affected region, I do hope that the clean up goes smoothly and that everything is back to as normal as it can be, soon as.