Earthquake (22nd Feb, 2011) at Link - updated June 14th, 2011
Damage to Castle Rock clearly visible behind Link.
This article is to catch people up with what has happened with Link, its staff and families and Christchurch. For more general information, please look to your normal news sources.
Christchurch shaken by series of quakes again (updated Jun 14th, 2011)
Just as we thought our world had settled down, yesterday we had a 5.5 and a 6 magnitude earthquakes only 1 hour or so apart. In the last 24 hours we are experiencing constant little tremors, pretty much too numerous to count.
Link is absolutely fine but we did lose our power for a while yesterday and we're back to using Port-a-loos, which is not very exciting. All the staff are well and their homes are all fine, even if some of the cracks are now larger. We did have some problems with email and our phones this morning (Tuesday) due to the power loss but everything is back on track now.
Christchurch has experienced much more liquefaction, particularly in the eastern suburbs. No-one was killed and a couple of people are still in hospital but our infrastructure has taken another hit. Understandably, everyone is getting very tired of all this!
More information on the quakes and our wobbly world can be found here.
Link R&D Centre sets a new world record (updated Mar 31st, 2011)
Our R&D Centre set a new world record - see News item here
Lyttelton Tunnel Building fights on (updated Mar 2nd, 2011)
We discovered at 9 pm Tuesday that our Development Centre was to be demolished the following day and informed that there was "nothing we could do to stop the demolition as the current State of Emergency meant that we did not have to be consulted". They had not considered that we are well connected and highly regarded and things were not as simple as that. By 3 pm the next day (Wednesday) we had secured a "stay of execution". We're very pleased to report that although our research and development centre has now been red-stickered (which means no-one can enter the site), we have been able to prevent the building from being demolished by the wrecking ball (see photo of the crane they were assembling to do this) this morning! This took a huge effort from a number of people and we're very grateful to:
- The Rt.Hon. Ruth Dyson MP
- The Rt.Hon. Jim Anderton MP
- The Historic Places Trust
- Helen Broughton - Councillor
- Tim Carter - Councillor
- Christchurch City Council
Ian Lochead - University of Canterbury- John le Harivel - Architect
- Win Clark - Structural Engineer
- Karl Varley - results.com
We have more photos on our Facebook page.
Whilst we were doing this, we were operating from our mobile Engineering Centre so we didn't get blown off the hill (see photo).
In the meantime, we're up and running at 22 Mowbray St, Waltham and we can see the AMI Stadium from our windows. Could be very convenient during the Rugby World Cup later this year!
We've had a huge amount of support from these guys in getting into our new premises:
- our network guys (thank you Rob from Egressive)
- we have a brand new phone system that we'd been discussing we'd install before the earthquake (thank you Tony from ShapeIT)
- logistical support from Walter and the team at NZEFI
- all the LInk staff and friends
We have plenty of stock, couriers are running in and out of the new premises and we're completely up and running.
Today we have a gale nor'west wind blowing (very hot, dry and strong) and the air is full of choking dust - very unpleasant. We know we are more fortunate than many other businesses in town and our hearts go out to everyone that has lost someone in this event.
Disastrous Earthquake in Christchurch (updated Feb 24th, 2011)
Staff
All our staff and their families are fine. Cameron's house, which was severely damaged in the earthquake on 4th September 2010, is now completely uninhabitable. Many more cracks in houses and broken crockery this time.
Link HQ
The earthquake was only 5km deep and it was centred directly under our building. As a result of this, the building has been damaged and is not likely to survive.
- A large boulder fell off Castle Rock above us, bounced on the motorway beside us and then crashed into the workshop.
- One of the large windows in the marketing office bounced out of its track and is currently leaning, in a very precarious manner, on the safety rail.
- Numerous windows broken in the store, office and workshop.
- Cracks have appeared in the pillars that support the building.
We're devastated BUT the reality is, even though its a fabulous building, its not Link. We are.
We are now at 22 Mowbray Street and will be open for business on Monday, 28th February. We are contactable on Skype but obviously we're concentrating on getting everything set up so we're ready to go on Monday.
We were able to get all our stock out of the building. A large number of the staff came over and there were many speedy feet carting everything out as we're still having many, many aftershocks.
Part of the storeroom after the quake (left). Storeroom after we'd emptied the shelves (right). We have a lot of sorting out to do at our new offices!
Obviously, we didn't get everything (staplers, laminator, cups, chairs, paperwork, etc) but we did rescue our coffee machine and we're in the process of setting it up so we can have a well deserved coffee.
We've set up the 'Toy Hauler' (our work caravan) at our new premises as it has hot and cold running water and, most importantly, a flush toilet! You have no idea how fantastic that is!!
Special thanks to the Tunnel Control Staff who helped us massively yesterday and who have looked after us extremely well over the years. We'll miss working with them.
Photos of the damaged canopy (left) and the demolished canopy (right), both views from the tunnel end. In the left photo you can see the original toll booth where you paid 20c to go through the tunnel.
Christchurch
Many, many people have lost their lives. The Central Business District is completely cordoned off, with rescue crews desperately trying to find missing people.
As this is written, 80% of the city is without water (including our new premises) and 50% of the city has no power. The roads are severely damaged and there is a lot of liquifaction. Moving around the city is a long and slow process. Our infrastucture is very damaged - sewage, water pipes, power lines, schools.
Many more houses have been damaged this time. Houses that had no damage last time are completely destroyed this time. Concrete tiles have been shaken off roofs, houses have shifted on their foundations, concrete floors cracked and all sorts of other damage.
Link tent protecting a neighbour's house in Cashmere. You can see how the concrete tiles have been shaken off. It started to rain on Tuesday evening after the earthquake. To give you a sense of scale, the photo on the right shows the Link tent at the 2011 South Island 4 & Rotary event.
Most of our beautiful historic buildings are severely damaged, if not completely destroyed. We are now a completely different looking city.
One of the myriad destroyed buildings.
General
Thank you for all your messages and best wishes. Link is still here and we've proved to ourselves that we are portable!!
If you wish to help Christchurch, please donate to the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. There are a lot of people that are really suffering and they need all the support that can be given.
We'll update this information as we can.
'bye
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