Earthquake Reflections, Part I

From the EcoGarden

Flowers for those who lost their lives on February 22, 

and those who were badly injured, 

and those who are suffering losses of every kind.

Although the earthquake one week ago was centred very close to the EcoGarden (perhaps only 5 km away as the kereru flies, and definitely only five km deep) once again our old wooden house (109 years this year), built on massive totara piles and topped with a corrugated iron roof, came through unscathed. All its contents, and its inhabitants, are intact – for which we are very thankful.

This earthquake felt much more violent and scary than the one last September, though. Although less strong on the Richter scale, it started much closer to us, and was more shallow. Apparently the ground acceleration was also faster than the September 2010 quake, although the shaking did not last as long. Quite strong aftershocks keep coming. Martin the EcoForester was out in the forest on Monday morning (six days after the big quake) when a 4 point something hit us, and he could see the trees sway ever so slightly.

But at least the ground we are on is rocky, not sandy, so we have no problems with liquefaction, and we are also well away from potential falling boulders. We also have our own water supply from a spring, and a septic tank for sewage disposal, so no worries there. Our electric power was reconnected only five hours after the big quake, (all praise and honour to the Orion workers), and our (plug-in) phone is also working. So all we lack now, as far as essential services go, is our broadband connection. (All the other households in Port Levy are also cut off from mail, on-line banking and bill-paying, and other essential information receiving and sending.)

Restoring our service is probably a very simple matter of replacing whatever component has failed in the junction box that serves Port Levy, which would take all of ten minutes (after a one hour drive over an undamaged road) but direct customers of Telecom (which has the monopoly power to do any fixing) have their calls taken in Manila, and are told that there are thousands in the queue ahead of them. Also that they can use the free WiFi hot spots in the city, which is a particularly sick joke in the circumstances, with the CBD cordoned off and the roads a mess. My nearest internet source is currently a 12 km drive away, in Diamond Harbour (opposite Lyttelton) over a steep and winding hill road which has been known to rain rocks when the hill is provoked, as it surely has been lately.

I am working up to a major epistolary grump about why and how things have come to this sorry pass, what the implications of it are, and how New Zealand must do better in the future. But at least for me it is mainly just a bloody nuisance, preventing me from getting on with my those parts of my work that involve on-line research and sharing information with colleagues around New Zealand and the world. Not to mention putting up my blog. For others the deprivation may be more serious, since the Web is also a source of support services and other survival-related information.

I can only hope that those people have a phone that works, and electricity to charge or power it – neither of which can be taken for granted. I also hope that they have access to a garden with fresh food in it, to help with their immediate survival needs. My sister in Christchurch was without power or water for several days, and every supermarket within walking or cycling distance of her place (she does not have a car) was too badly damaged to open. Luckily she has a good vege garden on her little section, and when I asked what I could pick up for her from a distant supermarket all she was really hanging out for was things she couldn't grow (bananas, avocados) or make herself (Vogel's bread, catfood).

I have been reflecting on how important gardens are to both individual and household resilience, and to the resilience of whole cities – see my next blog posting - Earthquake Reflections, Part II - On the Garden City.