I can't help but comment on the devastating earthquake that hit Christchurch just yesterday. I was there a week and a half ago and can't believe what happened to that poor city. When I was there, they were still trying to recover from the 7.1 quake that hit last September and many buildings were undergoing repairs and lined with scaffolding for restoration. And now the 6.3 quake that just hit is unbelievable. My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by this - please say a prayer for those folks. I live in earthquake country and lived through the 1989 Loma Prieta quake so I know how devastating something like this is, especially since, by their very nature, earthquakes come unexpectedly and can literally rock everything in your world. No matter how prepared you think you are, no one can be prepared for this kind of devastation.
To give even just a small sense of the impact of this, here's the picture of the Christchurch Cathedral I took less than 11 days ago:
Here's what that beautiful building looks like now
(picture taken from http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/cathedral-no-stranger-to-quake-damage-20110222-1b3lk.html - Photo: Twitter - @tesswoolcock)
There are worse images of the destruction - suffice to say this one's bad enough and I hope New Zealand can recover and come back stronger than ever. It's a beautiful country and I met wonderful people there. If anyone has the strength to come back from something like this, it's the Kiwis.
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