New Zealand Earthquake

You've probably heard that New Zealand had a big earthquake today but don't worry, we're safe and sound. The earthquake was on the south island in a town called Christchurch and is a long ways from us. We first heard there had been an earthquake while we were at the hospital and the word was that Christchurch was evacuating the hospital. It wasn't until we got back from work that we learned how bad it was. We turned on the news and they were reporting that it was 6.3 and so far there have been 65 deaths and a lot of damage, including the famous church in town. Christchurch is the same place that had an even bigger earthquake back in September. The reason this one was so bad is because it was very shallow in the earth so it was felt very strongly on the surface. Oh, and they conveniently built the town right on a fault line. Hopefully there won't be many strong aftershocks. We're actually flying to Christchurch on Sunday but won't be spending any time there. Instead, we're landing, renting a car, and getting out of town before we can feel aftershocks. If you want good news coverage of the quake, check out the Auckland newspaper...New Zealand Herald. So in summary, we're safe in Auckland. I'll keep this updated if we find out anything new.