Lindsay’s brother and his wife had lost their house, it had been badly damaged by liquefaction in the September quake, but this quake was much worse. The house had slumped so much it was difficult to walk around in. Jason and Carla had retrieved some clothes and were staying with Carla’s mother in her damaged but liveable house north of the city. It was like that everywhere, families doubling up, picking the most liveable house and making do.
But a lot of people had left the city and the streets were empty. The jammed roads and crazy traffic of the day of the quake had given way to a few cars kicking up dust on the damaged, rumpled roads. Some roads were particularly bad. Going along Aldwins Road towards Eastgate Mall was like a rollercoaster, a huge hump in one lane changed into a dip, while the adjacent lane did the opposite. Around the city, roadworkers were starting to smooth out the silt humps, but given how many there were it would take a long time. It was dusty when the wind picked up, and the army guys on the cordon had to wear dust masks some days. Other days, when it rained, gutters full of silt backed up, flooding streets.
Before the quake, this big quake, not the September one, Alice had been a nervous driver, staying on her learner’s licence for two years, only gaining her restricted licence just before she started at university. Now, though, she was used to driving over bumps and into dips and keeping a close eye on following traffic in case she had to dodge an especially large dip or pothole.
Dinner was finished and they were washing the dishes. Marjorie had a dishwasher, but everyone was still conserving water, so they were doing dishes in the sink using as little water as possible. Marjorie boiled the jug and made cups of tea and they sat back down in the lounge to watch Campbell Live. Alice felt herself slipping off to sleep, in spite of the hot cup of tea in her hands, when it was announced there had been a big quake off the coast of Japan, a 7.9. There was a clip of the Tokyo skyline, buildings swaying.
‘That doesn’t look nearly as bad as what we had,’ Marjorie said. ‘I think I’d be all right with just a bit of swaying.’
There was footage of a newsroom, which showed some juddery shaking, but nothing as bad as they remembered from the 22nd of February.
‘It’s far away,’ Alice said, ‘and they’re built for it.’ She felt callous for just dismissing it that way, but she was thinking of the collapsed CTV building. She had heard from someone in the student army that the Japanese search and rescue workers who had come to Christchurch were saying that the deaths in Christchurch were from a manmade disaster, not a natural one. She had told Marjorie that, and Marjorie said she heard on the radio that the media in Japan were asking a lot of questions, especially since so many Japanese students had died.
They kept watching, long after their tea had grown cold, as footage showed a black, oily-looking tide full of debris advancing across coastal towns, picking up everything in its path. The quake had been upgraded to an 8.9, a monster. Alice remembered the Indian Ocean tsunami when she was 12 or 13. What she remembered the most about it was going to bed with the death toll at a few thousand, then waking up the next morning to hear it had gone over 100,000. Sure, the Japanese could build super-strong buildings that could withstand an enormous quake, but what could you do about a tsunami?
Although she was exhausted when she went to bed at ten o’clock, she couldn’t sleep. She was waiting for another quake, it had become like she needed one before she could feel the day was over and she could drop off. It was well after two o’clock when one finally came through, and by then Alice could feel her head tightening with a headache that she hoped wouldn’t still be there in the morning. The house stopped shaking and the rumbling faded into the distance. She could hear Marjorie down the
But a lot of people had left the city and the streets were empty. The jammed roads and crazy traffic of the day of the quake had given way to a few cars kicking up dust on the damaged, rumpled roads. Some roads were particularly bad. Going along Aldwins Road towards Eastgate Mall was like a rollercoaster, a huge hump in one lane changed into a dip, while the adjacent lane did the opposite. Around the city, roadworkers were starting to smooth out the silt humps, but given how many there were it would take a long time. It was dusty when the wind picked up, and the army guys on the cordon had to wear dust masks some days. Other days, when it rained, gutters full of silt backed up, flooding streets.
Before the quake, this big quake, not the September one, Alice had been a nervous driver, staying on her learner’s licence for two years, only gaining her restricted licence just before she started at university. Now, though, she was used to driving over bumps and into dips and keeping a close eye on following traffic in case she had to dodge an especially large dip or pothole.
Dinner was finished and they were washing the dishes. Marjorie had a dishwasher, but everyone was still conserving water, so they were doing dishes in the sink using as little water as possible. Marjorie boiled the jug and made cups of tea and they sat back down in the lounge to watch Campbell Live. Alice felt herself slipping off to sleep, in spite of the hot cup of tea in her hands, when it was announced there had been a big quake off the coast of Japan, a 7.9. There was a clip of the Tokyo skyline, buildings swaying.
‘That doesn’t look nearly as bad as what we had,’ Marjorie said. ‘I think I’d be all right with just a bit of swaying.’
There was footage of a newsroom, which showed some juddery shaking, but nothing as bad as they remembered from the 22nd of February.
‘It’s far away,’ Alice said, ‘and they’re built for it.’ She felt callous for just dismissing it that way, but she was thinking of the collapsed CTV building. She had heard from someone in the student army that the Japanese search and rescue workers who had come to Christchurch were saying that the deaths in Christchurch were from a manmade disaster, not a natural one. She had told Marjorie that, and Marjorie said she heard on the radio that the media in Japan were asking a lot of questions, especially since so many Japanese students had died.
They kept watching, long after their tea had grown cold, as footage showed a black, oily-looking tide full of debris advancing across coastal towns, picking up everything in its path. The quake had been upgraded to an 8.9, a monster. Alice remembered the Indian Ocean tsunami when she was 12 or 13. What she remembered the most about it was going to bed with the death toll at a few thousand, then waking up the next morning to hear it had gone over 100,000. Sure, the Japanese could build super-strong buildings that could withstand an enormous quake, but what could you do about a tsunami?
Although she was exhausted when she went to bed at ten o’clock, she couldn’t sleep. She was waiting for another quake, it had become like she needed one before she could feel the day was over and she could drop off. It was well after two o’clock when one finally came through, and by then Alice could feel her head tightening with a headache that she hoped wouldn’t still be there in the morning. The house stopped shaking and the rumbling faded into the distance. She could hear Marjorie down the
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