ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

But - wait - there's more! Unfortunately.

Like a lot of people in Christchurch I got some good sleep last night. There were some mild aftershocks during the small hours but they were certainly not enough to wake me up.

Feeling more refreshed and hearing news reports that it had indeed been a relatively sedate night, I was cautiously optimistic that we had come through the worst.

Silly me.

It was drinking coffee when the aftershock struck at about 7.50am It was brief, no more than 5-6 seconds I guess, but it threw the house about a bit.

I actually didn't rush for cover this time round. I waited it out. I certainly know more about quakes than I used to.

But, in those brief seconds, people were again thrown into a state of panic. as we hit by a 5.1 jolt located about six kilometres under the ground. Many people are at breaking point and some people are not coping at all - the police have reported an increase in domestic violence. Stress turning inwards and into violence.

It's one thing to say that this is all part of a predictable pattern that occurs after a major quake but its another thing altogether when you're right in the middle of it.

Everyone just wants this thing to end.

It was surreal to switch on the television and see Paul Henry playing with a radio controlled blimp. Apparently Henry graced us with his presence for a few hours yesterday and then was gone..

Indeed most of Auckland's media celebrities have parachuted into Christchurch over the last few days and then vanished again. Stick Mike McRoberts in front of a wrecked building! Gotta get those ratings!

I've been getting e-mails that have assumed normal transmissions are being resumed but I think this new aftershock has dispelled any notion that things are getting back to some level of normalcy.

Indeed I'm reading that the state of emergency has been extended for another seven days.

We just have to do what we can and ride this monster out.