On Monday afternoon Christchurch was struck with a second large 6.3 quake. With power out for the eastern city, dense traffic, broken water mains and liquifaction, residents yet again face weeks of interrupted services.
Wifi for Humanity brought in a generator to assist New Brighton / Eastern suburbs residents with phone charging, hot coffee and a place for the community to gather at the Jungle Patrol cafe. With power back on in this area we will travel to other areas today to provide services as needed.
UPDATE, JUNE 16th: Power and water has been restored to most of the Eastern Suburbs.
The quakes continue, and power and other services may be cut at any moment. Please see the #eqnz twitter hashtag for the most up-to-date information.
In the news: NZ Herald, Tuesday 14th June
“Rebekah Wilson said she was “a bit freaked out” by yesterday’s earthquakes, but by this morning she was determined to stand up and help her community.
Immediately after the February 22 earthquake which crippled the Christchurch CBD and flooded several suburbs with muck and silt from liquefaction, Rebekah led efforts by Wifi For Humanity to bring internet access to hard-hit New Brighton.
This morning, she was ready to do it again.
“It’s what I needed to do. I can’t just sit here and do nothing when there has to be some kind of action.”
Rebekah immediately organised a generator and ventured to the Jungle Patrol Cafe, the same place she turned into a telecommunications hub in February. There are now facilities for tea and coffee, as well as internet access and mobile phone charging.
Rebekah said it was important for people to have a place to connect with each other – and the outside world – after yesterday’s magnitude 6.3 and 5.7 jolts shook the city.
Power had not been restored to the New Brighton area by the afternoon, and locals have been told to expect to be without a supply overnight if it isn’t restored by 5pm.
“There’s no water here either. We don’t know when it’ll be back.”
From the NZ Herald, Tuesday 14th June