By Juanita Copeland
It is not until you move some shrubbery and look down at the shattered foundations that it becomes clear why Ken Sharplin believes he only has a 50 percent chance of keeping his home.
“It just bounced off the foundations and there's another crack through there and another crack down the way there - so the whole house has just twisted itself,” says Mr Sharplin.
The continual aftershocks are no fun in a house on such unsure footing.
“If you went through the big one, these don’t scare you at all,” says Mr Sharplin. “But they’re unpleasant; we just want them to stop.”
Since the main quake there have been 1,575 aftershocks as the ground resettles.
“We lost our house, so every time there is an aftershock we remember what it was like being in the house,” says Kaiapoi resident, Marie Dowall.
Geologists say they will go on for months. Early this morning two measuring 4.4 and 4.2 were felt within 12 minutes of each other.
“I slept under the table for a wee while… not doing that anymore, but it’s tough,” continues Ms Dowall.
“Our brains don’t seem to be working as well as they were, so it must be the stress from the earthquakes I think – broken sleep,” explains Christchurch resident Lee Early.
“We’re actually going to have a party on Sunday to celebrate surviving over 1,000 earthquakes,” says Cindy Kelly.
Assessors say recent aftershocks have not caused significant new damage, but they are still keeping everyone in the quake zone on edge.
3 News
source: newshub archive
