Ya-Ya's Tea Board

Since many of our dear customers have sent emails inquiring about our situation here in Christchurch, I thought I’ll keep everyone up-to-date with what’s happening with Christchurch and Ya-Ya.

For those, who haven’t heard the news yet: Christchurch was hit by an earthquake yesterday morning around 4:30 in the morning. It was a big earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 and the epicenter was within 30 km of the city. In downtown Christchurch, many building collapsed – partially or fully (see the title image for an example). Fortunately, most damage was to commercial buildings in the city centre and the timing of the earthquake, striking so early in the morning, helped to keep damage to people to a minimum.

I was woken up by the cat leaving the bed and a grumbling noise which was quickly followed by severe shaking.  The shaking lasted for about 15-30 seconds, after which it subsided. I had a quick look around the house and didn’t note any damage. Within the first 30 minutes after the earthquake, we had at least 2 violent aftershocks. By the time it got light, the news had confirmed that there was extensive damage in the central city and a walk around the neighbourhood showed that many brick chimneys had collapsed, leaving big holes in the roofs. Water and power were off in large parts of the city for at least half the day. I understand that most households are connected again.

The damage to the central city will take a lot of effort to clean up and deal with. While the weather yesterday was very favourable with warm temperatures and sun all day, the forecast of gale-force gusts today and a cold front for tomorrow might cause some more problems.

Ya-Ya is alive and well and amazingly, we haven’t incurred any damage. Thanks to all of you who have sent emails offering to help. We really appreciate your concern.