No one can predict the future. And events that have happened in the past, tragic events, couldn’t have been predicted either, but we can learn. We can learn from things that have happened, develop new methods of thinking and produce ideas for dealing with the unexpected more efficiently.
Christchurch; torn apart by multitudes of earthquakes and the consequent damage that they caused. It will cost billions to reconstruct the city and essentially this will add to the poor economic state of New Zealand. But aside from that, aside from the damage, the homes and buildings lost and the ones that are still there but no longer usable, the mass amount of destruction that still has to take place in the form of demolition. Aside from all of that, there is a larger problem, brewing silently but ever-present. This tragic natural disaster has not ended yet. Day in, day out earthquakes shake the city. People are living in fear, children missing out on a vital education, parents wanting only the best for their children – it’s still happening. What I want to know is this. If there was a massive earthquake somewhere and then a few months later an even bigger one that killed many people and then many, many more ongoing ones, why would anyone deem this a safe place for people to reside? I’m not completely naive. I know that Christchurch, for many people, is home. It’s where you might own a house and have a mortgage, or own a business, or have an important job, kids, family, elderly parents, commitments, its the place you love. I understand that. I have lived in this region since I was born and while it has its bad days, it’s home for me and the place I love dearly. I have so much here, memories, family, friends and so on. I understand that it is home. But home above all else is meant to be somewhere that is safe. A place for you to reside in with your family that protects you from the rain, the cold and keeps your belongings safe. The state that Christchurch is in now takes away from all of that. I am not claiming to be an expert on Earthquakes – far from it. I am looking at from the most simplest point of view. Is it normal for a city to experience four – five earthquakes on a daily basis, for months on end – some of these as big as 6.3? Are we just ignoring the entirely possible outcome of another large earthquake? If you ignore for a moment, peoples lives, peoples safety and look at another angle – rebuilding. Is it even remotely sensible to consider rebuilding a city that is so vulnerable? I’m sure that our country isn’t run by a complete group of morons and that someone has taken this into consideration but it would make me a lot happier if I could read in the news “Experts determine earthquakes will diminish by August” or something similar as apposed to “Christchurch rocked by another 6.3 earthquake” and so on. I would just like to know that this aspect has and is being considered. That people, that our leaders, will not make the same mistakes. We have experienced tragedy with Christchurch’s biggest earthquake – let’s not be ignorant enough to experience it again.