Very good live streaming here —> http://www.news.com.au/
Watching. Thanks, Duckster.
Q
If I may, here’s a quote from Duckster’s link:
“Mate, this is chaos … it’s incredible … I’m in the middle of town now … This time people have been killed … I have just been ordered off the scene of one collapsed building where the police told me there were dead people underneath … Police got very upset when I started taking photos of this building … they ran over and said here was a dead person under there … There is a fire in a building at the corner of Armagh and Hereford Sts and they have helicopters going over with monsoon buckets … the Hotel Grand Chancellor, a 24 level building completed in 1990 – one corner of it appears to have collapsed … It’s one of the tallest buildings in Christchurch. It will have to come down … Going around, any brick building that survived the last one is rooted.”
These two have been in my prayers from the first quake. Dear God, please protect them.
Ann,
I know if and when they can they’ll let us know they’re okay. God look after your friends!
Q
Our friends. This is one big (mostly) happy family.
And a worried one as well, Ann.
I believe our friends will know we are thinking of them and will get through as soon as they can.
Icewolf is my closest friend in NZ, and I believe she isn’t in any danger, but as long as our other Kiwi friends are at risk, I’m gonna be right here.
My heart is with everyone affected by this tragedy, of course, but since you/we have interacted with Ritter and DavidNZ, it gives us a kind of focus.
Q
PS: I am still on Duckster’s link.
Gleena, have you heard anything?
Some hotels are down, but they can’t tell the numbers of people because guests were probably out either doing business or sightseeing. If your FIL is on a coach tour, he should be ok.
News! FIL is still in Aukland. They were meant to fly today, not yesterday like we all thought, the itenerary that my husband’s sisters had was an older one.
I feel like I can breathe again.
ETA: Not at airport, either - keep getting new e-mails from my husband. Short version, he’s not there. Whew!
Whew indeed! 
Gleena!
That’s great news!
I can already imagine the scene when y’all see each other!
You’ll have to be peeled off!
Seriously, though, that is very good news, indeed.
Quasi
Oh Gleena, that’s good news.
So sorry for all the folks there where the quake hit. 
Seventeen confirmed dead so far.
The confirmed deaths are now at 65.
Did that guy just say the death toll has been confirmed as 65 so far? It’s only minutes since they said 17.
Oh, kammie.
Now it is 65 people, and they’re expecting that number to increase!
It is hard to know what to say, but if it takes some money to help, then what I have I will send.
Quasi
Skynews says 65.
It went to 65 from 17 in just a few minutes for fuck’s sake. What on earth are the next few hours going to bring for these poor people?
I’m trying to work here, but I can’t stop choking up on the phone. Stay as safe as you can NZedders.
Watching the live feed on the News, and Channel 7 News are talking to someone actually trapped in one of the buildings, in the dark, unable to move. Unbelievable.
Sorry, but the foreign minister is speaking about Lybia when there are people dying?
Come on! Let’s set some priorities. godammit!
Q