AFTERSHOCKS

There is an eerie silence over the city.

I live near a main road that leads to one of Christchurch's big shopping malls and there certainly is not a lot traffic on the road. Which is a good thing - people are clearly taking heed of advice to stay home.

I'd also say that media stories about looting have been over-played. As far I can gather there were two isolated cases in the central city in the early hours of the morning.

The central city is in lockdown and the media is reporting that some 8000 residents have to get out. This seems to be a precautionary measure because of the danger of further building collapses.

I imagine building assessments be made over the next few days - so the central city could be a no go zone for some days.

Shamefully, all main media coverage seems to be emanating from Auckland. In the case of TVNZ the coverage includes, unbelievably, advertising breaks!

TV3 isn't even covering it

I think local station CTV is off-air while no less than Paul Holmes from faraway Auckland has been orchestrating the coverage for NewstalkZB.

Power is on to 70 percent of the city they say and it should be at 90 percent by 6pm. There doesn't seem to have been any substantial damage to the power network.

As I wrote this, there was another little jolt. Nice.