Christchurch Earthquake Appeal

22nd February Earthquake

By now you will no doubt be aware of the seriousness of the latest earthquake on Feb 22nd in New Zealand and the human tragedy that the people of Christchurch are experiencing.

Aftershocks are continuing to cause distress and hamper efforts in the many rescue and cleanup operations that are underway.

At the time of writing 28th Feb:

• 148 confirmed dead and still many unaccounted for.
• 50,000 properties remain without water – 33% of the city (out of a total of 150,000).
• estimated that 75,000 houses are without sewerage.
• approximately 37,000 customers are without power.
• early estimate of the damage caused by last week’s 6.3-magnitude quake was between $10 to $15 billion – two to three times the $5b estimated cost of September’s 7.1-magnitude quake and 7 to 8 per cent of the GDP, compared to Hurricane Katrina’s one per cent impact on the US economy.

Any donation you can manage will be enormously helpful in this crisis situation, the internet options are:

• NZ Government Appeal
• NZ Red Cross Appeal
• NZ Salvation Army Appeal