Seismic matters

The people of the little town of Coromandel decided to have their own prayerful and commemorative service for the Christchurch earthquake, the February 2011 one. Of course they assumed it must be ecumenical, and it happened to be the Presbyterians’ turn to host such a thing. The Presbyterians being currently without a minister, some elderly elder took the reins. This was his great moment. He informed everyone from the pulpit that earthquakes and all their horrors are God’s response to our sinfulness. I suppose this self-righteous simpleton has been going to church all his life, and has learned nothing.

A couple of days ago news arrived of the earthquake off the coast of Japan. Now we have aerial clips of the tsunami flowing ashore in the north of the island, carrying everything before it, cars, boats, buildings, tonnes of debris. Our daughter-in-law Yuko arrived in Auckland that morning with Fiona and Lucas, but they had taken off from Tokyo shortly before the quake and they didn't know any more than we knew. Our son Lex was in his office when the quake happened, and emailed us to say he was OK, and was about to start walking home. We think it would be a walk of a few hours. He didn’t know if their home was damaged, but the main damage in Tokyo seemed to be to services. The trains and electricity were out.

One of the websites has a helpful interactive map of the world showing earthquake sites as they happen. There is the “Pacific rim of fire”, with the huge Japan quake all fresh and pulsating. The Christchurch quakes look tiny by comparison. While we are living right there on the rim of fire, Australia is off to one side, and according to the map nothing ever happens there. Just to the north, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia look like a seething mass of magma.

A couple of Christchurch emails...

We have a Baptist colleague here whose church has fallen down and whole house has been red stickered as well. Someone asked him what he wanted – was there anything they could do for him? He replied: Yes I wouldn’t mind a Fiat…(latest model car!) I have always wanted one of those.

...the parcel that arrived at our door this morning was fantastic!
90+ daffodil bulbs to give out to people at church as symbols of hope – what a creatively positive idea that was, then acted on!


Lex emailed later on Day One to say he had walked home in 3 hours with a stop for dinner. The apartment was shaken up but OK. Now, a couple of days on, the main problem in Tokyo seems to be getting basic food items. But further north it’s all simply horrifying. The threat from the ruptured nuclear reactors doesn’t bear thinking about.

Mary is wondering about assembling an emergency kit for when we get our calamity -- earthquake, tsunami, plague, invasion from Tonga... I have ordered a solar-powered battery charger from Dick Smith Electronics. That seems to me as sensible as anything. We already have a stock of assorted rechargeable batteries.