Christchurch, New Zealand, has suffered a terrible earthquake

The beautiful Christchurch Cathedral in an image I found at the net, where It shows how it looked before it suffered irreparable damage by the earthquake

Yesterday, at about 12 noon, New Zealand local time, a terrible earthquake that reached 6,3 degrees on the Richter scale has devastated the beautiful and beloved city of Christchurch. It only has just half a year the same village has suffered another big one, which had much less tragic consequences. I do not understand how they work all that kind of things, but it seems that the reason for this phenomenon is that the epicenter of the latter has been generated only at about a kilometer deep and very close to the city. It was awful: an unexpected amount of dead people, a lot of buildings have fallen down, the streets were full of chaos and the crowd was in fear, running from one place to another with no ... The beautiful cathedral built in 1881, which is usually considered the most beautiful of all the South hemisphere, has also collapsed. The damage suffered by this jewel of the Anglican architecture has been irreparable.

Many things make me feel close to that city. In 2006 I was there for a long stay. There I got married. As my ability to repeat mistakes do not seem disappear until I’ll be100 years old, that marriage finished already. Although, I still maintain a good friendship with my old comrade. And right now, the worst thing is that there are a lot of former friends and relatives who have become friends too, all them wonderful people, who live there. Luckily, it seems that everyone is much or less OK. However, the disaster left everybody in a shock state.

We are talking about a new country. Christchurch was founded it has barely 155 years ago. Look at the Cathedral, which had only 132 ... So what? The whole catastrophe means a sad loss, not only in local people, but in global terms as well. New Zealand is placed in a devilishly seismic zone. The Kiwis (popular nickname for New Zealanders) learn at an early age about how to protect themselves under the school desks in case the ground shakes by cause of some of the numerous earthquakes there. Kiwis are strong people, used to look forward. It looks as if they are living in a paradise touched by the divine providence, which seems to possess never ending natural resources, but where nature, as they like to say, plays a serious game. I know they will succeed this sad challenge. I’m shocked too by the horror and destruction they are suffering at this moment. There are things that will never be the same in Christchurch. I send my most heartfelt hug to all my friends there.

Here are some photos I made in that beautiful city when I was there: