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Earthquakes are terrifying. New Zealand has about 14,000 of them a year. Most are tiny. I’ve only ever felt one earthquake in my whole life. It was just a bit of a jolt and then it stopped. My first thought was, - is that me feeling a bit giddy? It was nothing like the serious quake that hit Christchurch in the early hours of September 4. Terrible damage was caused to New Zealand’s second largest city. But the miracle was, no one was killed.

Watching the TV coverage over the days since the quake as the people of Christchurch go about getting their lives back together again made me think of Anne Donaghy. She was a child when the 1964 Alaskan earthquake struck. I interviewed her for a chapter book I wrote for Learning Media, entitled: “Remembering the Big Quake”. Here is an extract:

“My mother grabbed my hand. “Quick! Quick! We have to get out!” she shouted to David in the next room. “We have to get out of the house – NOW!”

The next minute we were running and tumbling down the hallway, which had suddenly started to pitch like a ship... We ran outside into the snow and were all thrown off our feet as the ground heaved...Behind us our house was collapsing. We could hear the terrifying sounds of glass shattering and timber tearing apart, and all the time, the roar of the earthquake was going on and on and on....And then it stopped... Read more

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