新西蘭英語 332 After the earthquake

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After Saturday’s earthquake in the Christchurch area, the main focus was at first on the central city area. There has been a huge amount of damage to older buildings. Many of these were beautiful 100-year old buildings which made the central city attractive. All this area is closed at the moment because of the danger from falling bricks and stone but we have seen pictures on TV of buildings with the front wall missing or big holes in the roof. Machines are busy demolishing buildings which have been badly damaged.

No buses operated today and workplaces in the central city were closed. This will mean a loss of business and a financial cost to owners. The central city is home to many international students studying at language schools.

Schools and pre-schools are also closed until Wednesday to give time to check they are safe and have power, water and sewerage. Some schools may be closed for longer than that because some areas still do not have these services. Both the University of Canterbury and Lincoln University are closed at least until next week. Outside, there are cracks in some buildings and inside, books, papers and equipment were thrown around and broken water pipes flooded some areas. For some graduate students there will be heartache as their experiments are ruined.

We now know that about 100,000 houses are damaged, some of them very badly. In areas near rivers or the sea, where houses have been built on sandy soil, water pushed up through the sand, bringing mud and sand with it. The clean up is hard work for home owners. Some roads developed large cracks; some dropped a metre, some rose a metre. Houses developed cracks. Many houses will have to be demolished.

However, one positive thing is good relationships with neighbours. On Saturday morning, people checked that neighbours were OK. With fine weather Saturday and today, people have been outside helping each other clean up. Others have volunteered time to help those who have moved out of their homes. There have been many stories of people helping others.

To see photos and a video of Christchurch after the earthquake go to The Press website.

Questions

1. Geological scientists are saying that this earthquake was not the big one. We are overdue for a big earthquake somewhere in New Zealand. Should we be worried?

2. Will Christchurch find it difficult to attract international students in the future?