still shaking

It's weird watching the quake that woke me up a couple of nights ago - our power instantly went off and so it was pitch black and that was the scary thing about it, but in this video you can actually see it, and it looks a lot bigger than I had thought.

Aftershocks still going; two last night were really big (but I wouldn't know because I slept through them!). I'm torn - a terrified friend of mine wants to leave town and stay with family down south, but is too scared to drive by herself, and so I'm thinking about going with her and staying with family in Dunedin. But at the same time, I'm perfectly fine and don't seem to be affected by the quakes and so it seems like I should stay and do what I can to help. At the moment, that is to provide childcare for my sister and her husband whose daycare is closed but who are in demand at the hospital as doctors. I've also rung up the university to add my name to their database of potential volunteers for the clean-up - from these photos published in the NZ Herald, it looks like it'll be a massive job. (My cousin's work desk is right in the middle of the 15th photo - hooray that the earthquake hit at 4.35am!)

We are SO LUCKY in this country to have such amazing, efficient emergency services and public servants and people-who-prepare-for-stuff-like-this. As the extent of the damage becomes clear, I can't believe that 95% of the city has had power for the last couple of days.