Trapped in liquefied limbo-land

Trina Duff and daughter Ella, 8, are ready to flee liquefaction and porta-loos for Australia. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A new hell has dawned on thousands of Cantabrians - they're trapped in a liquefied limbo-land and cannot leave quake-ravaged Christchurch even if they want to.

For many, the devastating earthquake double-whammy on Monday was the final straw - they want out or they want answers about the future of their suburbs.

But they are trapped in a new hell - everything they have is in a city they can't live in any more.

"This is our home. I want to be here but I want to leave," said a forlorn Trina Duff as she fought back tears yesterday in Brookhaven, one of Christchurch's badly-hit eastern suburbs.

What you should know

- Three thousand Cantabrians without power
- 15 per cent of the city without water
- Fifty schools to reopen today
- University of Canterbury and Christchurch Polytechnic Madras Street and Sullivan Avenue Campuses to open Monday
- The Christchurch Cathedral, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and Timeball Station suffered further damage, narrowing the chances of rebuild
- Another 100 CBD buildings to be demolished urgently, 1000 in total
- Volunteer Student Army mobilised for eastern suburbs


Mrs Duff was with daughter Ella, 8, using a portable toilet. Both were wearing coats over pyjamas, the trousers tucked into their gumboots.

Mrs Duff was carrying her handbag containing her passport and some Australian dollars. She said she was ready, at a moment's notice, to gather up her family and head to the airport.

She and her husband had the night before discussed their future.

"I'm 44, he's going to be 50 next year. We've got our jobs and we've got our house. But if our house is poked and our land is poked and we get paid out, where are we going to move to?

"If we move out of Christchurch who's going to give us a job? This is a nice area with nice people, we worked hard to get this and now because of Mother Nature it's all going to be thrown away."

In Bexley, the walls of many houses carry signs saying, "We still live here."

It is one of several suburbs the Government is assessing before deciding whether it is safe for people to rebuild on the land.

Bill Wissink's home is surrounded by sludge, floodwater and sewage. "After a few months of living in here, you're dicing with death. Why should we live like this? It's creating huge problems. No one tells us anything."

Mr Wissink was prepared to move if Bexley was deemed unliveable - but not until then as he had a mortgage to pay and he did not want to pay rent on top of that.

"If we can't live here, I'll get out of the place and start anew. But I can't wait years and years for people to make their minds up."

Nathan Kennedy and wife Tracey want their Bexley house to be as safe as possible for their 16-month-old daughter Felicity but have been told by their insurer it was uneconomic to repair.

"We're financially tied to the place and have family here on both sides. It would be sad to leave."

Prime Minister John Key flew to the city yesterday as residents faced uncertainty about their future.

Thousands will have to abandon their homes but - as aftershocks continued to rattle Christchurch and its people - it was not known who would have to move and who would be able to.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said at least 75 buildings in the central business district had survived the February quake but now had to be demolished urgently after Monday's quakes.

The bigger quake may have claimed a life.

An 88-year-old man fell in a rest home during the 2.20pm 6.3 magnitude quake and lost consciousness. He died during the night, and the death has been referred to the coroner.

GNS Science seismologist Bill Fry said the latest two earthquakes were on a different fault to the one that created the quake which devastated the city in February.

In Redcliffs, a series of enormous rockfalls have driven Linda and Geoff Oliver from their home.

They say they have loved their home in the eight years since they bought it, but doubt they would be comfortable living there again.

"It's really the terrifying memories and trauma, but also about safety for the future," said Mrs Oliver.

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said he was not worried about an exodus from the city, though he acknowledged some people would be "at the end of their tether".

"People have to make their own calls on what they are going to do. And if there are people who feel, for their wellbeing and for their family's wellbeing, this is a time for them to leave then that is the right decision for them and we should support them in doing that.

"The vast majority of people in this city love it. They are worried at the moment about the transitional seismic phase we are in but ... we know it will end. We will rebuild the city."

Reporters: Jarrod Booker, Adam Bennett, Andrew Koubaridis, Anna Leask, Simon Collins, Edward Gay and Nicholas Jones of the New Zealand Herald; Tracey Chatterton and Abbie Napier of the Christchurch Star.