The New Zealand Experience

[Mortblanc]

[Midnitemo]

I have a couple of friends in separate parts of the South Island , both safe but deeply shocked , one even contemplating coming home and she's been there over 20 years.

[Mortblanc]

A 7.8 quake is no small thing and can bring down a lot of infrastructure, crumble a road system, bring down bridges and damage everything standing beyond repair.

Even the 5 point aftershocks are enough to cause severe damage in built up areas. The occasional 5 point quakes in California cause billions of $$$ damage to structures and networks.

[harrypalmer]

Nasty, but the Kiwi's get on with life.

[Lightspeed]

A good reminder that from a location to live point of view, conditions in the UK are benign compared to many other places in the world.

[harrypalmer]

[sethorly]

Kiwis and Maoris alike are used to quakes. We had several when I lived there many years ago (near Christchurch, South Island). NZ is an amazing place.

[harrypalmer]

I'm moving there myself full time. I was there a few months ago and am going back in August to look at properties.

[sethorly]

Good luck Harry, I'm sure you'll love it.

[Straight Shooter]

We nearly emigrated there...when were first married....had it all sorted job offers for time served carpenters in the Christchurch area were many , housing was just about sorted ,paperwork sorted and a start date .....SS....bottled out , many of my friends who have been there love the place....i sometimes look back and regret my decision , but there you go , a farmer friend had a trip over a few years back and was seriously thinking of selling up and moving there ....then ill health put the mockers on that idea ...