Earthquake and triplets

Quick update at the end of a very long day. Was woken up by the earthquake at 04.35 this morning without realising what could have happened. It felt like being on a ship in a rough sea for some 10s of seconds, I got up and went to the living room with my aunts. We still had power, so I turned the computer on to find out how big the quake was and where the epicenter was. Several aftershocks happened shortly, and I decided to start writing up an assignment rather than going back to bed after having texted a few key persons in Denmark.

A small amount of writing got done before the first news was on TV at 6AM and my uncle called from Denmark. Everything got pretty hectic as we were talking on two different phones while watching the news and slowly starting to realise how lucky we had been out here. Christchurch was hit quite severely, and our first thoughts were that it was incredibly good timing that I was at The Paddock for a visit anyway.

Around 8AM we all decided to get moving, had a shower and a bit of breakfast, and all of a sudden one of the angora goats went into labour. It had turned to the most beautiful sunny spring day outside, so we all went to have a look at the action. Since nothing happened immediately, I helped out gardening for 30 minutes or so, before returning to the kidding. Out came one tiny little goat kid, then another, and finally to our big surprise, a third kid was born, 4-5 hours after the mother had started contracting.

All of this pushed lunchtime until 2.30PM or so, and then another couple of hours was spent with the newborn kids out in the sun. At 4.30PM we put the goats in their shelter and went indoors to find dinner and some news on the earthquake. It turns out that nearly all the neighbours around here have had electricity and water cuts during the day, while everything has been up and running continuously at The Paddock.

Dinner, a well deserved beer and news altogether got me realising how big the earthquake had really been. Major damage is still being reported from around Christchurch, the university is closed for a week and all students and staff have been told to stay away. In the physics department we have had reports of severe water damage, a chemical spill and possible structural damage as well as broken glass and tiles. It is truly a miracle that no fatalities have occurred so far; with the quake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, being only 10km under ground and 30km west of Christchurch, things could have gone so much worse.

At this stage, 10.10PM I am still somewhat shaken and incredibly happy to be at my aunts place instead of home alone. I have been talking to my mom tonight, and to maximise the possibility of getting a decent sleep tonight I will be camping under a table or something tonight. It might be silly, but waking up in a house moving as if it was a boat is something that makes you do silly things. The log burner has stayed cold since this morning, and will probably be so for the next week (at least).

The important thing is that the three of us, as well as the newborn goats, are all fine. Slightly shaken, not only in the literal way, but I am confident that we will make it through without problems. As for the studies, all our deadlines are postponed by a week, so I should be absolutely fine there as well. I am curious to see the department though, but grateful that they are taking all the necessary precautions to keep everyone safe.