© jcestnik/Flickr
On February 22nd, 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the center of Christchurch, New Zealand. The force from the earthquake popped glass from windows, leveled buildings and laid waste to almost half of the city. New Zealand's former premier, Helen Clark, has even
remarked that "[t]he building damage [she's] seen compared with Haiti." People are now
evacuating the city in droves, with thousands forced to relocate, and the remaining citizens are without water and sewerage in some parts. Unspeakable tales have found their way into the media of people,
trapped under buildings, sending text messages in desperation to the outside world, pleading for help, help that was ultimately too late. At this point all hope is given up for finding any more survivors; the families of the missing are just looking for closure now. The citizens of Christchurch are beat, shell-shocked, and some are only able to cope in the
lowest possible ways. The situation in Christchurch is beyond tragic.
According to geologists, the fault that set off the Christchurch earthquake had laid dormant for thousands of years and only recently awoke last September when a
magnitude 7 earthquake struck the outer regions of the city. This initial jolt caused considerable damage, but nothing on the scale of what was experienced recently. These earthquakes in Christchurch have caught geologists by surprise, since the major New Zealand fault, the Alpine faultline, is nowhere near Christchurch. Something is definitely going on here. The planet seems to be in the grips of a veritable pandemic of earthquakes occurring all over the globe - in places we never thought possible before. It's as if this recent earthquake in Christchurch sprung from the shadows of the past: a traumatic past that humanity has largely forgotten.
