Earthquakes both here and abroad

Dr Mark Quigley may be the most respected New Zealander in the country at the moment. As a nation, we tend to like the no bullshit, matter-of-fact type characters that don't pull the wool over our eyes. That could explain why Willie Apiata consistently appears at the top of the most respected New Zealander list despite the fact that he is in the SAS and is supposed to be on secret missions.

Many Cantabrian's have found solace in Mark's easy to understand explanations of what has happened and have appreciated his no bullshit approach. His public lectures could have made him a rich man and instead of having curtain raisers at the rugby, the Canterbury Rugby Union could have used him to deliver one of his lectures. Could have boosted ticket sales.

We all knew that the news of 22 February would be tomorrows fish and chip paper, but who knew what would happen in Japan? With everything so raw for us, all of a sudden a country that New Zealand has quite a close relationship, suffers an unimaginable catastrophe. All the more considering the Japanese search and rescue teams worked so hard while here and the huge Japanese media interest in the 22 February earthquake. While it was humbling to discover how many friends around the world New Zealand has, I would rather that we didn't have to repay friendship so quickly.

Many of us in New Zealand are asking, "is there a link between what is happening here and what is happening in Japan?" The answer is probably not even though in Canterbury we are on the same tectonic plate that caused the mega thrust earthquake in Japan.

So witnessing the absolute power that Mother Nature can unleash on us is scary, it's perhaps pertinent to remind ourselves that we don't own this planet. We are residents and we have to ride out what our home throws at us. Even if we are really well prepared, as Japan is, there is only so much you can do when a mega thrust earthquake occurs and in Japan's case, the tsunami's that can accompany them. I don't think that anyone who saw those images of the black water surging through towns, carrying cars, planes, ships along for the ride, will ever forget the relentless power of a tsunami.

Mark Quigley is again being sought after for his explanations. On Campbell Live on TV3, he again, was able explain, simply, what had happened in Japan and define to the best of the knowledge he had, what was happening here. And while Cantabrians may understand exactly what he is talking about now, whereas many other Kiwi's scratch their heads, Mark Quigley has provided much needed answers to some pretty important questions. It all adds to my theory that many of the successors to Mark Quigley and his generation of geologists, are going to come from the Canterbury region.