Quake a severe blow to morale
It began with a rumble and a shudder, then hit with the disorienting, distressing and disabling force that only a magnitude 5.7 earthquake can.
Many of us dived for cover, a few in a state of panic raced for building exits. Some froze to the spot, tears rolling down cheeks. Buildings were evacuated, malls closed, liquefaction spewed once again from the ground. In Sumner, Redcliffs and Taylors Mistake cliff faces collapsed, and rocks fell from hillsides across Banks Peninsula. About 500 homes lost power for a few hours. Homes and shops, particularly in beachside suburbs, were left once again cleaning up items which had crashed off shelves.
It is likely that the most significant damage to our city will be unseen. The damage to our psychological health. The Valentines Day earthquake struck just a week shy of the fifth anniversary of the February 22, 2011 earthquake. Then, the city kept shaking with unnerving frequency for some two years. But it has been more than four years since Cantabrians felt an earthquake of the size which struck on Sunday. This was a magnitude-5.9 which hit in December 2011, also also centred off the Brighton coast.
More can be expected. GNS scientists have calculated the probability of another quake of magnitude-5 or greater striking within the next week at 25 per cent. Coming after such a lengthy period of stability, the magnitude-5.7 quake is a dreadful set-back for Cantabrians.
Hope had been returning to the city as the rebuild slowly began to take shape. The majority of homes have been repaired or rebuilt. New offices have risen from the rubble with construction well under way for many more. The recent opening of the Christchurch Art Gallery and the Margaret Mahy Family Playground have brought joy to thousands.
The impact of Sunday’s disruption on each of us will vary enormously. For some, the smiles were wiped off our faces only briefly before we resumed our afternoon activities. For others the shaking will have reawakened a latent anxiety about the stability of our lives, our homes, our city. And for those whose lives remained in disarray following the earthquakes – homes still broken, careers never resumed, relationships destroyed – the impact of another large earthquake will be deeply damaging.
In May last year, Canterbury doctors said the city’s mental health – once on a par with most other districts – was approaching crisis. Emergency mental health cases had risen by more than one-third. The number of children and teenagers needing psychological help had leapt by two-thirds.
While some continued to suffer symptoms of posttraumatic stress, the more widespread impact of the quakes was on rates of anxiety, depression and substance abuse.
In December, police sounded further alarm bells revealing the number of call-outs to attempted suicides had doubled in the last year. So it is a time for us to take stock, to take care of ourselves, our families, our friends, our neighbours. We are in this together.