Andrew and I arrived safely in Auckland early Tuesday afternoon to the awful news of the devastating second earthquake that had just hit Christchurch. The woman who owns the apartment we are in had the TV on when we arrived and she was quite upset as she has relatives who live in the city.We spoke to her later and she said they were safe.
At first we thought it was the first earthquake back in September that was being talked about again. Unfortunately it wasn't.
It's been very harrowing watching the coverage and we don't know anyone there and didn't visit the city during our time on the South Island.
However as you travel around New Zealand, you are aware that it is a pretty volitile country. Wellington sits on multiple fault lines and the museum there has a whole section on previous natural disasters that have happened. When we went to Napier, we learned about about the massive earthquake in 1931 that killed over 200 people and flattened most of the inner city.
They have a special commission here called the EQC(Earthquake Commission) that provides insurance cover for peoples home and belongings in the event of earthquakes and other natural disasters . It also has an educating role.
The reason New Zealand is so vulnerable is because it straddles the boundary of two of the earths great tectonic plates -so earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslips and tsunamis are a fact of life for people living here. When we stayed in the Coromandel, we were warned of the tsunami alarm that blasts of each Wednesday evening and of the evacuation route.
But none of this helps people who have family and friends killed or missing as a result of Tuesday's disaster . Our thoughts are with them.
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