After NZ's 7.5 magnitude temblor, Christchurch reboots itself quickly

The people on this South Island of New Zealand were still recovering from the massive 2011 earthquake, when on Sunday night, another earthquake -- with a 7.5 magnitude -- shook their lives.

Foreigners and tourists spent a sleepless night thinking about the consequences, but the natives seem to have accepted such calamities as a part of their day-to-day lives.

"Oh, you didn't sleep last night? Don't worry, it's a part of our life now," said Andrew Murray, a Kiwi resident, to an Indian tourist at a hotel's breakfast table here on Monday morning.

For an Indian, the seven-plus point on the richter scale, was a reminder of the mass destruction caused by an earthquake in Gujarat in 2001. However, people in Christchurch, surprised this visiting IANS correspondent with their high spirits. The quake killed at least two persons and has resulted in billions of dollars of damage.

Just five years ago, an earthquake had jolted the picturesque city and took 185 lives, leaving it devastated. But soon it started standing on its feet, with many youngsters returning to homes in an attempt to help in rebuilding the city.

"Christchurch was losing young people post the earthquake, but slowly and steadily, they are moving back to the town," Sam Crofskey, owner of C1 Espresso, one of Christchurch's oldest restaurants, told IANS here.

"Now tourists are lining up to come here. It is very important for us to see people coming here. You can also see all forms of graffiti pictures and creative art on some walls of Christchurch. That shows our liveliness," added Crofskey, who built a new cafe after his old one was destroyed in the 2011 disaster.

"People that time said, 'You are so brave'. And I told them that I just didn't know what else to do. They said, 'Why do you want to live here when there are so many earthquakes, volcanoes and other things? I say, 'It happens everywhere'," he said.

After the earthquake that happened on Sunday, Christchurch is fully operational, according to a statement released by Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism.

"It is business as usual for Christchurch city's tourism operators following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake centred near Hanmer, 130 km north of Christchurch, early this morning," the statement said.

The airport, hotels, car and campervan hire companies, conference and meeting venues and visitor attractions in Christchurch are all operating as normal, said Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Vic Allen.

"Christchurch is now one of the safest cities in the world, following our infrastructure rebuild and strengthening upgrades. We are encouraging people to keep to their plans to come to Christchurch," said Allen.

Further north of Christchurch, the popular visitor centres of Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura are currently inaccessible by road and rail. That's where the major damage has happened.

Former New Zealand cricketer Stephen Fleming tweeted: "Christchurch's strong, but our hearts go out to those in Kaikoura and surrounding areas. Long days and longer nights ahead."

Nevertheless, the city has started coming back to form.

"Kiwis are very good at adapting and the new buildings that are coming up, are quite modern with old heritage intact. That's one of the reason why people (both travellers and locals) want to come here. There have been a lot of buildings that have been rebuilt and there is lot more accommodation. We do see a lot of young people coming in," said a staff member at a hotel here.

According to the Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism, there were 1,904 Indian travellers who visited the city for business in the year 2011 and the number went up to 2,400 in 2016. People who went there on vacation also almost doubled, with 12,762 in the year 2011 and 25,168 in 2016.

Even as the city settles down, the tourists have begun to enjoy the variety of cuisine ranging from Indian, Chinese, Lebanese to Korean.

And the visitors have started to behold its scenic beauty with delight. The Akaroa Harbour, where you can get up close and personal with New Zealand's playful Hector's dolphins, is seeing crowds again.

The double-decker buses that take tourists around the city show some of the buildings that still bear the marks of the 2011 earthquake. But the spirit of the residents have subsumed that in their consciousness, as it will the 7.5 magnitude Sunday shaker.

(Nivedita's trip to Christchurch is at the invitation of Tourism New Zealand. She can be reached at nivedita.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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