I was only 12 years old. I woke up on a Tuesday morning, 22nd February, super excited to do my performance at my Circo Arts School. 6 months before there had been a shock to my city. Christchurch woke up at 4:35am 4th September Saturday morning to a violent 7.1 Earthquake for 45 seconds. it was around 11 km deep. As reference, the Japan earthquake was around 30 km deep, but a bigger magnitude and in the ocean so was felt a little worse. The tsunami was what did the most damage to Japan. We felt it badly and sat outside for countless hours sleeping under the stars. Six months later everyone was recovering, luckily nobody died at such a large shake, it really was a miracle! I went to school, had a normal day. I stood up as the bell rang for lunchtime, everyone started packing up and people starting going out of classrooms, down the hallway to their lockers. The building shook violently, even more than before. I was screaming to my friend who couldn't get under a desk. I put my hands over my ears and rolled under the desk. This shake only lasted around 20 seconds, but everyone knew this one was different.

Alarm bells rang and everyone was called to the main field, all the year 9's came out of the year 9 block, and the year 10's from their block. The seniors were shortly called over too. We ran along with the year 7 and 8's to get our roll called. Parents arrived and I started to worry, the last one was centered out of town a bit, but rumors were going around that it was centered on the other side of town this time. And what side did they happen to mention?
Lyttelton.

Lyttelton is a small suburb I live in, it takes me 45 minutes to bus or be driven to school everyday. Some trip alright, and there is a tunnel to get through the hill to the rest of Christchurch, which I travel through everyday. I suddenly was very worried.
How would my parents get me? How would I get to them? Would I have to sleep at school?
I was one of the most paranoid people when it came to earthquakes, I literally had to have someone with me almost all the time. My Nan arrived about an hour later to take me to her place. Traffic was so bad, it took me 4 1/2 hours to get somewhere literally 15 minutes away, and this is a pretty small city we are talking about here! I rang my parents but the phone lines were clogging up, rumors were spreading that 10 people had died. It scared me more than you could believe, my local mall had windows on the roof smashing, taking people to the hospital. I got near my friends house which was around the corner from my Nans, so my Nan sent me there for the night. I waited for a call but nothing happened. 



After 7 1/2 hours my Dad had driven over the hill to come get me, the tunnel was still shut and aftershocks were coming at the second. My friends house was absolutely munted after the shake, she stayed with us also. We had no power and no water and all had to sleep downstairs. That was the worst night I have ever had.
After 2 days we had gotten the power back, we were walking around Lyttelton and heard alarm bells start. (Which usually happens when the power suddenly turns on) We were so excited we ran home to turn the T.V on, the earthquake was a 6.3 and deep. Over 180 people were killed including one man who was killed in an aftershock by a boulder. Guess where this man was? He was on the hill my Dad drove us over.

The City Centre of Christchurch, it was the life, the soul and the heart of Christchurch. (The City Centre is shown in the background of this article) The Cathedral is the heart. Everyone has faught over fixing it, and luckily nobody died inside. But over the years it has worn down, and since each aftershock it has became more loose. The results after this one wasn't so good.


Watch the video to see the full damage of the Cathedral
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SNXLPrwP6A

Over 900 buildings were significantly damaged at the time and thousands of people are still waiting for insurance and house fixing. We were lucky enough to have a new house, as ours is not red zoned unlike most in Lyttelton. Thousands of people left Christchurch, and probably wont come back. I'm sure everyone was scarred from this in some way.


You need to learn to stay safe yourself in earthquakes. You never know when It will happen! One city in New Zealand has been overdue for one for years and years. Who knew it would be us?
Here are a few things me and many others do.
♥ Tack down valuables on shelves.
♥ Have a backpack somewhere for your family, with fresh water, a torch and warm clothing that you can take if you ever need it.
♥ Sit a torch beside your bed or in the hallway.
♥If one ever happens to you, get under a table or in a doorway, or in the classic turtle position.



Now tell me, have you ever been in an earthquake? How big was it?
If you have any questions from my experiences, feel free to mail me. I am very open about this :)

 

Hey everyone its Kitty! I hope you enjoyed my story. If you would like to know more about the 13,000 aftershocks I have felt since September 4th 2010, click here http://www.canterburyquakelive.co.nz/

Today you will be interviewing me!
These questions were sent by the community of VP.

What does an earthquake feel like?
We have all been through so many in our town that we pretty much name them! For example the fault line for the one six months before the 22nd Feb one (September night one) We call that a Rolleston/Darfield Quake, if the aftershock comes from the original place where the first one was. But if its a 22nd Feb one, we call it a Lyttelton aftershock. Obviously since I live in Lyttelton we feel the Lyttelton ones worse! Its kind of odd, because the Darfield aftershocks feel more shaky, but the Lyttelton ones feel like your house is rolling on logs!

What did you do after the Earthquakes started happening?
Well after the 22nd Feb earthquake I found my Ipod touch under my computer screen! So we screwed the computer screens to our desks haha. And we have torches around the house. Just remember that if one happens, just under a desk or in a doorway! Or run from buildings!

How long to they last?
Depending on the strength of the earthquake, is how long it lasts. Most small earthquakes from magnitude 1-4 last for a couple of seconds, just a quick shudder. Our 7.1 (September/Darfield/Rolleston Quake) lasted for 45 seconds, the 6.3 (Lyttelton/February Quake) lasted for 25 seconds. The Japan earthquake lasted 5 minutes, but didnt feel as big since it was so deep

How do you feel about earthquakes?
I had to get a lot of help after the earthquakes, I had a very bad experience with earthquakes and had a lot of councelling, although most kids my age got scared of the big ones, they were okay afterwards. Don't let me make you think they are that bad, I was just unlucky aha.