New Zealand Mayor: Quake death toll rises to 75

[News_Editor]

New Zealand Mayor: Quake death toll rises to 75

2011-02-23 05:17:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll after a strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday has risen to at least 75 with more than 300 missing, mayor says.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-02-23

[Donnyboy]

a very sad situation for the people in Christchurch, just when they seemed to be recovering from the sept 2010 one

our thoughts and prayers go out to those that have lost loved ones

[Ulysses G.]

More people died than the 1989 San Francisco World Series quake when highways and bridges in the Bay area collapsed.

[gotlost]

Words can not express our sorrow for the people of Christchurch.

[brahmburgers]

Reminds me of the Loma Prieta quake near San Francisco which knocked out the Bay Bridge.

Only one person died in Santa Cruz, a tourist town south of the epicenter. I knew her. She was a lovely young lady who worked at a coffee house there. An old brick wall at the cafe fell over on her.

[supaprik]

very sad...r.i.p. kiwi folk

[Robby nz]

More people died than the 1989 San Francisco World Series quake when highways and bridges in the Bay area collapsed.

What do you think this is some sort of a bloody competition?

Was there less than 2 months back and have friends there who I cant contact, hopeing they are OK.

But I know so many more are not, I read that some had to have limbs amputated to get them out of the rubble alive, think on that for a bit.

A terrible disaster.

[Wallaby]

This part of the planet sure is copping a battering lately. Not good.

I am very saddened for my kiwi brothers and sisters across the ditch. Keep the chin up good people.

[Donnyboy]

we are sure copping it lately down under when it comes to natural diasters

[Wallaby]

we are sure copping it lately down under when it comes to natural diasters

Mate, don't take this the wrong way............I hope you win the world cup this year, will surely lift the spirits over there. Do well, u deserve it. I'm not trying to make light of the tragedy.

[chuckd]

I am a regular reader of a conservative think-tank called Investor's Business Daily. I have posted several editorials from this site, some of which have been roundly booed by the liberals on board.

The following editorial is from today's newsletter and I wanted to post it. I hope you will take the time to read all of it.

______________________________________________________

Stronger Than Disaster

Posted 02/22/2011 06:45 PM ET

The 6.3 quake that rocked Christchurch, New Zealand, was a bad hit to a city that six months ago didn't realize it lived on a fault line. But amid the rubble, this country has the civil culture to recover quickly.

Sometimes the most telling indicators can be seen in little things. Hours after the quake struck, a British tourist posted a film on the Internet showing a huge rock slide rumbling down to houses on a street just outside Christchurch — and in the background, a Kiwi resident diligently sweeping away the debris so the cars could still get through.

Meanwhile, news photos showed other New Zealanders, acting on their own initiative, marching over to the badly damaged hotel district in the center of the city, and offering homeless tourists their beds.

Such acts can probably be more easily performed in a small country of 4 million than, say, a big U.S. city.

But these acts are the acts of a cohesive society steeped in freedom and democracy. Along with the heroic efforts of rescuers digging victims out of downed buildings and crushed cars, they point to a nation rich in the human capital and civil cohesion that come of it.

And they correspond to New Zealand's stellar rankings on every measure of human freedom.

Continued here: http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=563897&p=1