Three hours after yesterday's devastating Christchurch earthquake, a Wanganui woman who had recently shifted to the southern city was sheltering in her damaged house, with no idea what to do next.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she was working in a cafeteria near the central cityand was thrown across the floor when the 6.3-magnitude quake struck at 12.50pm.
There was no obvious safe place to go - the cafe was in a new building and the old buildings around it were crumbling.
The woman used her cellphone to call and make sure her husband was safe.
She had to make her way to her house, not far from the Christchurch CBD, on foot. When aftershocks hit, she crouched by a car for protection.
On her way home she saw a collapsed bridge and streets oozing with water.
The roads were congested and filled with people walking, as city workers tried to get home.
"Everyone is pretty solemn. There's lots of people dead in town," she said.
When she got home she found two collapsed brick walls.
"The sides are just down. I would say we have definitely lost the house."
Wanganui student Jordan Karauria, who studies at Canterbury University, texted the Wanganui Chronicle that he and three flatmates were in their Riccarton flat when the quake hit.
"We were at home, I'm sweet, but it was way more intense than the original [September earthquake]. "Everything was shaking, we couldn't stand up."
Christchurch's Paul Johns, the 2005 Tylee Cottage artist-in-residence, also texted the Chronicle.
"I am sitting in my car, slowly trying to get out of the city. My studio collapsed around me but I was able to get out my back door."
Former Wanganui man Josh Kosmala, like Mr Karauria now also a Canterbury University student, said he was on the Ilam campus and in a lecture theatre with 300 other students when the earthquake hit.
"We could not do much because the tables aren't big enough to get under."
Mr Kosmala said parts of the roof fell off.
"We were hastily evacuated on to the Ilam field when another earthquake hit ... it was way bigger than the first one.
"We were thrown four or five metres - the [ground] waves were really big."
As the earthquake drama was unfolding in Christchurch, Wanganui District Council was discussing earthquake-prone buildings.
Wanganui Mayor Annette Main was booked to fly to Christchurch on Monday night for a seminar on resilient communities.
"We have recorded our shock and concern for the people of Christchurch in the meeting. At this stage, there's nothing else we can do," Ms Main said, adding that the massive aftershock had serious implications for Christchurch and for the country.
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