Dealing with the aftermath of a major earthquake – physically and emotionally

Hopefully the worst is over and New Zealand can get back to what passes for normal.

Previous posts on the New Zealand earthquake:
• @sift666 – initial reactions to the quake
• @trevor.george – working as a member of the emergency response team
• @kiwideb – detailed news on the first couple of days
• @kiwideb – updates on day 4

There is still an almost constant stream of minor aftershocks and this is expected to continue for some weeks. While we can’t ignore the possibility of large another quake over the coming days, the probability is comparatively low for Wellington. But let’s face it, we live in a country filled with fault lines. Every day, we live with the possibility of a quake, especially in the middle of the country. The lower North Island and the upper South Island, which were the worst hit, are always at the greatest risk.

So, if we assume (hope) that the worst is over, what now? Now we do what kiwis do best – just get on with it. Typically with a mixture of practicality, ingenuity, stoicism, community spirit and wry humour.

The town of Waiau, only 5 km from one of the epicentres, has lost its history with the destruction of an historic cobb cottage and other heritage buildings. If the rural water supply isn’t re-established soon, stock will also be in danger. I haven’t seen any recent news reports on that. Further bad news is that some of the town has been affected by a rotovirus, presumably caused by complications of having to feed large numbers of people under difficult conditions.

Source

The risk of another large quake is still reasonably high for Kaikoura and surrounding areas. But the good news for Kaikoura is that a military convoy made it through today on the inland road with urgent supplies. That road is still not safe for private vehicles though. Also NZ Post managed to get the mail through – the first delivery in nearly a week.

Decisions need to be made about the main State Highway running down the East cost of the South Island. North of Kaikoura, a hillside is collapsing, closing more of the road. This is the main road giving access to Christchurch and other east coast settlements. Access to the lower South Island is currently by going all the way across to the West Cost, down it and back across. This isn’t a sustainable situation. But at this stage the East Coast road looks like it could be unrepairable and there isn’t really an alternative route. It may be some time before anything is known about what will happen.

Between the damage to the State Highway, and the local damage, Kaikoura’s tourist season will be mostly written off this year. Whether it will recover in the future is uncertain. The change in the shape of the seabed and shore will affect a lot of things. It’s still not known how some of the area’s marine life has fared. A rare variety of shearwater, a bird that only nests in Kaikoura, has lost between a quarter and half of its population.

Image Source – read more about the shearwater here

The capital city of Wellington has had more buildings closed today. Some of the businesses and government departments affected have found alternative accommodation, and on the whole business is back to normal. But there is still a lot of uncertainty about the safety of some of our taller buildings.

The neighbouring city of Lower Hutt has its main shopping mall still closed. It may reopen on Sunday but that is uncertain.

All in all, the amount of repair and rebuilding work that will need to be done is astronomical.

Last but not least – dealing with the emotional trauma. The character of Christchurch and the population of the region of Canterbury may have been changed forever by the events of 2011. I don’t know enough about New York to be sure, but I suspect New York has never quite been the same since 9/11.

This event was obviously not as serious, but has still put a lot of the country into a fight or flight state of physiology. Even if we are not actually in danger of dying, if we THINK we are, the physiological results can be the same and should not be underestimated.

The way of life in our current society already lends itself to us being in a permanent wired state, with not enough down time to ever completely unwind. Add a major event like this, and some people may be pushed over the edge.

In my recent training, one of the things we covered was how to help people out of a fight / flight state that has become permanent, instead of discharging. It seems that might be a way I can help. So I’ll be offering sessions to locals who have stayed stressed by this event.

I think this will be my last earthquake update, unless things change drastically. So normal transmission will resume shortly – recipes, nutrition, health topics and whatever random thoughts pop into my mind.

PS Another story from @trevor.george on his adventures in the middle of the city at https://steemit.com/life/@trevor.george/it-was-daylight-burglary-and-lots-of-fun

Thanks for reading and for all your prayers and good wishes

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I am now on Peerhub offering one on one nutritional coaching and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) sessions by Skype.

Some of my previous posts:

THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE: My Intro ~ Are there kiwis in the house? ~ Benefits of joining a community choir ~ My grandmother’s legacy ~ Steemit in downtown Wellington ~ Overcoming my fears ~ Observations from a bus ~ The brandy snap maker ~ Wearable Arts Award Show ~ 2 months on Steemit and now curating health, nutrition and recipes ~ Positivity Challenge 3 – Acts of kindness ~ Positivity Challenge 4 with a twist ~ Positivity Challenge 4 – Emotional Freedom Technique Part 1 ~ EFT Part 2 – Getting started ~ News on the NZ earthquake ~ More news on the NZ quake