Third earthquake in Wellington

Hi there

A couple of hours ago there was a third earthquake in Wellington.  I was standing at the kitchen bench salting my steak.  I threw my salt cellar frantically in the air and ran to get under my dining room table, clutching at the legs.  The quake lasted 30 seconds and was the worst so far.  6.5 according to one tv station and 6.9 according to another.  There have been lots of little swarms over the last few days but I've only felt the three main ones.  Luckily not one ornament broke at my house, the cabinet didn't fall, no windows smashed in.  Phewww, safe.... for the moment.

The scary thing is that there will probably be more earthquakes. Wellington, I believe, is on the same fault line as San Francisco.  Our fault line goes right along The Terrace which is the street adjacent to Lambton Quay, Wellington's main city street.

Apparently in the city, about 7 km away, there has been falling masonry, cracked buildings, power outages, etc.  A hotel has sort of lost it's sixth floor.  Because it is dark now (6.30 pm Sunday, as I type this), much damage will not be discovered until tomorrow.

I did have an emergency stash of food and clothes, but I kept diving into the food when I was dieting - hunting for forbidden goodies - and I never replaced the stuff.   Now, I'm down to one tin of tuna in my stash.  I might have to make that one tin of tuna last up to a week if there's a major quake.   Note to self: get out tomorrow and refill earthquake box.

We have always been told that it's not a case of 'if' a major quake hits Wellington, but it is a case of 'when' one hits us..

You can probably find information on our quake at www.stuff.co.nz.