WHEN the earthquake roared through the middle of a pretty summer afternoon, it happened so fast that David Burt didn't realize how bad the devastation in Christchurch would be.
"Everyone was going about their day, business as usual, when all of a sudden the place just rocked like you wouldn't believe," said the former Winnipegger.
Burt was working in his mobile office for a concrete company when the 6.3-magnitude temblor struck just before 1 p.m. Bookshelves tumbled to the floor and computer screens went dark as the power died. But he thought the city had made it through the shake mostly in one piece, just like it did after the 7.1-magnitude quake that struck the city only five months earlier.
It wasn't until Burt, who moved to Christchurch in 2002, pushed his scooter past shuttered gas stations and closed grocery stores to get home that he realized the devastation was far, far worse.
Like most of Christchurch, the house Burt shares with his wife, Lisa, and their two daughters was left without water, though they still have electricity. When the family turned on the television, they were shocked to see images of downtown Christchurch's crushed and crumbling buildings and reports of workers trapped inside offices.
Relief has been flooding in, Burt said, and the company he works for has been supplying construction cranes for the relief effort.
Neighbours have been reaching out to neighbours. Churches have opened their doors to help those left homeless. But despite New Zealanders' "chin-up" attitude, Burt said, the community is still reeling from the shock.
"Everyone's really edgy," he said, just as a small aftershock rippled through his home. "We thought after the first one... we'd ridden it out, we'd gone unscathed. All of a sudden -- bang. We get hit with this other one, and things are so much worse."
Everyone in the close-knit city has friends and family they are trying to locate and haven't yet heard from, Burt said. On his list is a friend and fellow Winnipegger who lives nearby.
Burt said his family is hoping to move back to Canada in the future.
Back in Canada, anxious relatives hoping for good news desperately tried to reach loved ones. But with most phone access cut and Internet spotty, getting news was difficult.
Friends and relatives seeking information on Canadians were being urged to contact the Foreign Affairs Department at 1-800-387-3124 or 613-996-8885, or via email at sos@international.gc.ca. The department said Tuesday it had received no reports of any Canadians killed or injured.
While it was difficult to gauge just how many Canadians were in the southern island city, Christchurch is a "hugely popular" tourist destination and it's likely there were several hundred Canadian visitors in the area, said Max Johnson, owner of the Great Canadian Travel Company in Winnipeg. None of his clients was there during the quake, he added.
Speaking in Sidney, B.C., Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered his condolences and said Canada was willing to help in any way it could. His wife, Laureen, lived in Christchurch as a young girl.
-- with files from The Canadian Press
melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca
