Christchurch, New Zealand – Jewish Community Shaken By Worst Earthquake in Decades

Christchurch, New Zealand – As New Zealanders continued to survey the damage caused by the country’s worst earthquake in almost 80 years, residents and leaders expressed amazement that a Saturday morning temblor that toppled historic buildings and destroyed some 20 percent of homes hadn’t resulted in loss of life.

“Everyone is of course a bit shaken, but for the most part is okay,” reported Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, the Ch. Church-based director of Chabad-Lubavitch of New Zealand. “There’s one serious injury, but miraculously, no fatalities.”

The massive 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck 30 km. west of New Zealand’s second-largest city at 4:35 a.m., hurling citizens from their beds and toppling brick-and-mortar homes. But because of the hour, few people were in the streets.

Goldstein, who serves a Jewish community of about 2,000 people, said that his roof caved in over his dining room. When the shaking began, he and his wife Sara grabbed their three children and sought refuge in a doorway. They then shut off the gas lines and huddled in their car outside. Two hours later, they surveyed the damage and found shelter at a friend’s house.

“We don’t know yet of the situation at the Chabad House,” which is located in the city’s heavily-damaged historic quarter, said Goldstein. “But we’re having our Sunday school at the synagogue as scheduled.”

The synagogue, which is located 20 minute from the Chabad House, just completed renovations this past week, noted the rabbi. The work, he said, likely is what allowed the structure to escape serious damage. By coincidence, the community had scheduled it’s traditional Saturday-afternoon Kiddush brunch to take place in the synagogue instead of at the Chabad House. The meal provided a welcome relief to stunned attendees, said Goldstein.

Elsewhere in the city, chimneys fell on neighboring houses or on parked cars. Piles of brick lined streets, and elaborate facades were reduced to rubble. Whole sections of roadway had been lifted out of alignment, and cracks in the earth and pavement stretched as far as the eye could see. But as of Sunday morning, power had been restored to 90 percent of residents.

Mayor Bob Parker urged people to conserve water; broken sewer and water pipes had contaminated the water supply in many places.
The temblor damaged shops in the Beckenham section of the city.

“There is, in a sense, below the visible line, significant structural damage,” Parker told the New Zealand Herald. “We know that a lot of people will be very nervous, deeply disturbed.”

Goldstein, who counted more than 35 aftershocks, said that his primary concern was with elderly residents and was working to implement a volunteer-based effort to make sure that everyone was cared for.

“A number of community members are in shock,” said the rabbi, who after the close of the Jewish Sabbath, notified religious leaders in nearby Australia about the predicament. “We are reaching out to them.”

Goldstein also notified the community that the Chabad House would be distributed food and water.

“Things could have turned out much worse,” said the rabbi. “By Divine Providence, the earthquake happened when it did. Thank G-d, everyone is alright.”