Earthquake in Christchurch - Day 4

Many people who have stayed with us before or booked to stay at CentrePoint on Colombo Motel in the coming weeks and months have emailed us with kind messages of support and encouragement and we thank you all for your kind thoughts.


The Christchurch and Canterbury region was rocked by a strong Earthquake at 4.35am on 4 September.

Overnight from day 3 to 4 we were rock ‘n rolled by a number of large aftershocks. These are unsettling to most Cantabrians and they do keep us awake but they are an ironic reminder of our 19 years in Japan. We rock ‘n rolled a lot there!

Many people who have stayed with us before or booked to stay at CentrePoint on Colombo Motel in the coming weeks and months have emailed us with kind messages of support and encouragement and we thank you all for your kind thoughts.


This is a standard reply to everyone, thanks for taking the time to read it.


Thankfully our family is safe, and the Motel did not sustain any damage.


CentrePoint on Colombo Motel is fully operational.


We are now into day 4 after a night of light rain which is to continue through the day. Christchurch City and the Canterbury region is becoming accustomed to our new reality and finding ways to cope with it and the aftershocks that are unevenly spread throughout the day.


The reality in Christchurch today is that the CBD is OPEN for the first time, although only those with a good reason (work etc.) will be let through the cordons. The cordon is now limited to the very central 2-3 blocks – it is at the corner of Gloucester and Colombo St. On this side of town. City bus services have started running today although a bit limited. Buses will be doing their best to cope with the cordon. Taxi and shuttle services are operating as usual but are busy due to the lack of buses. The Art Gallery is the Civil Defense HQ. Supermarkets and other retail shops began opening on Sunday afternoon and more are opening with each passing day. All schools and public buildings are planning to stay closed until Wednesday. The main aim for the disaster relief effort now is to restore electricity and water to as many areas as possible.


Reading the previous paragraph, you could be excused for thinking it does not look good and it would be a normal reaction to say “I’m not going to Christchurch.” However, please remember that it is only day 4 and the situation will improve with time. Us Cantabrians are a resilient lot and bounce back pretty good!


We do look forward to welcoming you to Christchurch as per your original plans. By the time you get here the main parts of the city should be back to normal.


So how is Christchurch? The CBD is somewhat closed for cleanup and so that is limiting for tourists, with a reason people can move in and out of the area, but all businesses, restaurants, bars attractions, etc. are closed. CentrePoint on Colombo Motel is about 700 metres from the barrier at the corner of Gloucester St. and Colombo St. The motel can be accessed easily and directly. Close to the Motel, the older buildings have been seriously damaged and some of our favorite restaurants within 2 minutes walk will unfortunately not be reopening for some time. Apart from that, roads are undamaged and there are very few signs of the disaster we experienced. The eastern side of the city, closer to the coast and mainly residential did not fare as well. This is where some of the most serious damage occurred, often caused by liquefaction. Many roads, power poles, houses, lawns and footpaths are in need of a lot of repair. Initial estimates are that 100,000 houses have been damaged in the quake and this statement is one way of summing up the situation. Christchurch is not in ruins, rather the damage is evenly spread out over almost the entire city and probably no-one is unaffected. Even for us, the residential part of the motel (where we live) received cosmetic damage when a neighbouring chimney fell across the boundary.


We look forward to providing more information to you over the coming days as Christchurch returns to normal by way of Twitter www.twitter.com/CentrePntMotel and our motel blog page at http://centrepointoncolombomotel.blogspot.com/ and we welcome you to follow the Garden City’s progress.


Jeff and Naomi Peters