Slough of Despond

And so it continues: two big new aftershocks in Christchurch yesterday, a 5.5 and then a 6.3, that rumbled and shook and took down the last of the old Timeball Station on the hill above Lyttelton as well as shattering the nerves of Cantabrians. Again.

Somebody died as a result of injuries sustained, around 100 more buildings in the still cordoned-off CBD will have to be demolished, both cathedrals have suffered further damage, 50 thousand people spent a freezing night without electricity, plenty more had no water or sewage, and once again the grey cancer of liquefaction bubbled up from below. Before September, no-one had heard of it: now we all know what it looks like, how quickly it appears when the subsoil is shaken on a flood plain, how deep it gets, how smelly it is, and how much simple physical effort it takes to get rid of it, with spades and endless wheelbarrow trips. It's hideous - and some people are having to shovel it out of their houses and gardens for the fourth time. (Picture above by 3news.co.nz.)

I am so, so sorry for the people of Christchurch.