CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND–Wooster geology student Andrew Collins is studying abroad in Christchurch, New Zealand, this semester and was there during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake early Saturday morning. He is fine and I hope will be able to send us his story and some photographs later. We have two earlier posts from him about his New Zealand field experiences with amazing karstic weathering and basalt exposures.
Although this powerful earthquake produced “significant damage“, there are no reports yet of any deaths. It appears to have been an unusually complex tremor — maybe three earthquakes in quick succession. Andrew can tell us how it felt as the jolts woke him up. We are very pleased he is OK.