Shaken awake by New Zealand quake

A FORMER Magherafelt man who lives ten miles outside Christchurch in New Zealand has said he panicked when he realised an earthquake had struck.

Jonathan Scott was wakened at his home in Rolleston in the early hours of Saturday morning local time by the sound of his wife screaming.

And he has described to the MAIL how he dreamt that the noise emanating from the 7.1 magnitude earthquake, which was concentrated 20 miles away in the epicentre near Darfield, was a train crash.

Miraculously escaping injury, the family cook books were shaken off the shelf, drawers were torn open in the kitchen and vases and keepsakes were knocked off the dresser.

Jonathan, a former pupil of Rainey Endowed, managed to send a text to his parents in the Castledawson area and some friends overseas, asking them to contact other family members to let them know they were safe, as they were not able to be contacted by landline.

“All the mobile phone networks were overloaded so we could only get texts through in bursts. By 9am the mobile phone towers’ batteries had gone flat. By the evening the power was being restored so we were able to reassure friends via Facebook,” he said.

The former Magherafelt man said despite regular adverts appearing in the press and on television alerting people to the possibility of a disaster, many refuse to believe an earthquake will strike in New Zealand.

“As soon as I realised it was a quake I tried getting under the bed but couldn’t, so I dragged my kids under a door frame. We got off lightly,” he said.

The earthquake blocked roads with debris, cut off power and disrupted gas and water supplies, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

The Prime Minister John Key said it was ‘an absolute miracle’ that no one died in the disaster.

Jonathan said there were still aftershocks occurring in the area, days after the initial earthquake which made thousands homeless.

“There were over 100 aftershocks in the 48 hours since the initial quake. The heart of Christchurch has lost a lot of its art-deco buildings, which were being used as a focal point for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand lies where two tectonic plates collide and more than 14,000 earthquakes a year are recorded, but only around 150 are actually felt. Pupils regularly undertake earthquake drills to prepare them for such events.

On Monday an expert revealed that the earthquake had occurred on either a new fault line or one which had not previously been detected.

“Of course you never think it could happen to you,” said Jonathan. “We hear of earthquakes on the news because the North Island has volcanic activity and the South Island of New Zealand has a fault line down its spine in the Southern Alps but we’ve never experienced any. We always keep 10 two litre bottles of water, tinned food, torches and spare batteries in case of such an event. As we’re keen campers we also had sleeping bags, dried food and a gas cooker just in case. However we didn’t expect it to come to Christchurch. It’s just so far from the main fault lines.”

The family’s power is back on along with 95 per cent of the area, but Jonathan said they are having to boil all drinking water for three minutes and limit waste water.

And he described the scene in Christchurch as residents attempted to clear up.

“We’re shocked at how much damage has been caused around the city. Some streets are flooded, some are untouched on one side but a disaster on the other. It seems now that anyone with an older brick house in the damaged zone has come off worse than the newer, timber framed houses.

“Those people who live on what was reclaimed sand flats or marshy areas are worst off. The quake caused liquefaction – which is where the silt or mud turns to liquid and shifts. In some places holes have appeared up to two metres deep and gardens have turned to quicksand,” explained Jonathan.

He said most companies had started back on Monday, but that all schools were closed until today (Wednesday).

And Jonathan added: “I’d like to pass on thanks to those who said prayers for us and give thanks to the Lord that we were spared. Please pray for those who are homeless and have lost everything.”