LJ Idol Week 6 - "Step on a crack"

[jexia]

Three Septembers ago, in the depths of the night, the earth moved. People woke to the sound of toppling furniture and smashing glass. Chimneys fell, and a few buildings crumbled. The ground ripped four metres apart, with new faultlines found.

No-one died. It seemed miraculous.

Armies of students cleared silt from roads and driveways, where it had liquefied and bubbled up from the restless ground. Historic buildings were braced with exoskeletons of steel. Roads and drains were slowly cleared. Life in the Canterbury region of New Zealand found a new normal.

People grew used to the murmuring earth. Only aftershocks above magnitude 5 rated a mention, with Cantabrians discussing the sound, horizontal displacement and vertical velocity with the experienced taste of wine connoisseurs.

Six months passed, and then came the big one. Though considered an aftershock, the epicentre was close to the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand's second most populous city, and was far more destructive than the original 7.1 earthquake.

Brick facades fell on the crowded centre city streets. Buildings collapsed, pancaked together. The media shared desperate text messages from trapped students, tearful husbands outside fallen buildings, a five-month-old killed by a toppled television.

He wasn't the youngest.

One hundred and eighty-five people died that day.

It's been three years. The centre of Christchurch is empty, with only scant remains of its iconic cathedral. Lines of orange cones demarcate areas of damage, and of healing. The tide of roadworks rolls through and through the city as the ground settles, creating new cracks in roads hastily patched, and patched again.

Avoiding the cracks is possible, but barely. The effort would consume your life. Best then to do as the Cantabrians have done; carry on, regardless. What option is there?







=========
The 2010 Canterbury earthquake
The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake

Comments

[lawchicky.livejournal.com]

So sad :(

[solstice-singer.livejournal.com]

The very idea of an earthquake has always terrified me. I can't imagine living through one.

[jexia]

I'm fortunate to be at the other end of the country, these days. If it had been four years earlier, we would have been close. It was horrific watching a city I knew fall apart on the news, watching frantic, frightened Facebook updates, waiting for everyone to check in.

[itsjustc.livejournal.com]

I like your interpretation of the topic. I'm sorry New Zealand has to go through all this. It must be scary!

[jexia]

It's been forecast that economic recovery will take 50-100 years.

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

that's bad..:/

[karmasoup.livejournal.com]

Wow. This has got to be rough.

[violaconspiracy.livejournal.com]

This really is heartbreaking. My husband visited Christchurch when he was a teenager, and he always talked about wanting to take me there to see it, too. And then the earthquake. Nothing is permanent.

[oxymoron67.livejournal.com]

This is an interesting take on the topic.

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

*hugs* That must have been so scary; I'm glad they were able to carry on, and to find some healing.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Interesting approach to the topic. I've never been through a large earthquake, and hopefully never will!

[jexia]

Apparently my brain doesn't let me do the obvious :P

I really wanted to do a piece with a character in it - but I really struggle.

[favoritebean.livejournal.com]

I feel for you, earthquakes are the worst. Carrying on is all one can do, but man, it can be tough.

[uncawes.livejournal.com]

Christchurch is, or was, a beautiful city. My son and I played street chess in the park across from the cathedral. My whole family rode the trams to the tourist stops.
I haven't been back to Christchurch since the big quake. It's just too sad.
You've evoked plenty of emotion here. Good job

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

Sad to read..:( and as you said life goes on...Ironic!

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

The contrast between the two quakes is fascinating. One of my friends was in Christchurch when the big one hit, mercifully he was fine.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

An LJ friend lives near Christchurch, and I remember how unexpected and devastating all of this was. I don't think she's fully gotten a handle on her life and home again since then. :(