An earthquake but don't worry

If you're watching the news or on CNN you've probably seen that there was a 7.0 earthquake in Christchurch. 

That's far away from us and on the South Island.  We didn't even feel it here.  And there's no tsunami.  We're safe.

The local news is showing pictures of a lot of crumbled brick in the street.   Apparently one or two below-code buildings collapsed.  Authorities are urging people to take precautions, like conserving water, and are checking to make sure that city utilities are still OK.

But there are no reports of injuries, and it appears that 99.9% of the damage was just cosmetic-- broken crockery and the like.  The precautions are just that, precautions.

People were frightened at the time, of course, since it came in the early morning and startled most people awake.  But now people seem to be dealing with it in the usual matter-of-fact Kiwi way.  Earthquakes happen here; it's not their first time at the dance.  Regular life is proceeding along its normal way, and people have gone out to pick up debris as part of their Saturday morning chores.   They'll replace their cracked crockery and everything will go back to normal.