Thoughts With New Zealand

I woke this morning to news of the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand and my thoughts immediately turned to Warren Matthews of ‘Natural High‘ and his family, friends and staff of his business Xtend-Life. I was much relieved to read a short update on his Company Blog which said that all were safe and well although the offices and production facilities of Xtend-Life have been severely damaged. Unsurprisingly he makes no mention of ‘Natural High‘ but fingers crossed she will have been unaffected. Those of us who have never experienced an earthquake of this magnitude can only imagine what it must feel like but a few sentences written by Warren and reproduced below give some indication of how extreme the event was.

…..today around lunch time we had another massive earthquake. Unfortunately this time the quake was cantered almost under our offices and half the depth from the last one. 5km compared to 10kms in Sept. As a result it was a lot more violent and the damage has been much more widespread.

Sadly many people have lost their live by being crushed in their cars or trapped in collapsing building. The unofficial estimate at the time of writing this is 200– 400.

This time our factory was severely damaged although our offices are not as badly affected. Most of our staff have serious damage to their homes. Severe aftershocks are continuing….four in the time it has taken for me to write this.

……..I have to say it is rather surreal as we are generally only used to seeing this sort of thing in the movies…seeing the ground move like it is water.

To watch flat carparks turned into small hills and water and mud gushing out of the ground is quite an experience.  People on the streets were actually being knocked over with the shocks and you could see the ground moving.  Where one moment the ground was dry, in a matter of seconds later there were cars falling into holes with their rear wheels sticking up in the air and the bulk of the vehicle covered with water.

None of our staff were injured although one staff member on the way home did witness a couple being crushed in their car as a building fell on them.

My thoughts are with Warren and all those in New Zealand affected by this catastrophe. We can only hope that with the help of the wider community further loss of life can be prevented and that recovery will be swift.