New Zealand Quake: Malaysians share their experiences

May Loh experiences:

I was working today and at 12.51pm (7.51am Malaysian time) the earthquake suddenly occured at 6.3 richter scale. The whole building was swaying left to right and I screamed and was terrified.

I was having lunch at that time. Massive damages occurred in Christchurch city centre and the public hospital patients have to be evacuated and a church collapsed flat on the ground. Including a big portion of the Christchurch Cathedral Square came down.

It is worst than the big one 7.1 in September because this one is shallower at a depth of 5km near the Lyttleton Harbour. An hour later around 1.51pm another one followed at 4.5 richter scale and smaller aftershocks and then just now at 2.16pm another one occurred while I am sitting in the office typing the message to citizen's blog think this one is around 4.6 or something.

It is really terrifying and I have to wait till July 2012 before I get the indefinite PR and I just wish I can get out of here. - May Loh

Muhammad Ariffudin Ghazali Experiences:

Hi there,

I am a second year student at the University of Canterbury which was just recently hit by another wave of earthquake.

I wish to inform you that most Malaysian students at the University of Canterbury are doing fine and most of us are staying together, at least for a few days.

The earthquake happened somewhere during lunchtime and most of us were either done with classes or were about to go to one.

As for me, I was about to get into one of the University buildings when the quake hit Christchurch and the visual experience was scary. Glasses was shaking, buildings were also shaking. But thankfully, most of us had enough time to evacuate buildings and gathered at one of the safer university grounds.

Most students have informed their parents of their condition and so far, students staying in campus are being well taken care of by their university colleges and for those of us renting outside, we're staying in groups of 20 in a few of the rented houses.

Lastly, I would like to advise parents not to worry about their children's safety or well-being as all of us are looking out for one another and Malaysian-associated clubs are also giving out basic necessities such as bread and juices. - Muhamad Ariffudin Ghazali

Eric Ong Yi Feng Experiences:

Hi,

I am a student studying at the University of Canterbury.

Just to share a bad experience I had in this devastating quake. I was having a short nap in the engineering library at noon. All of a sudden, I heard a huge boom and the whole building started to shake so strongly that the books on the racks kept falling down.

There were only three people on the top floor of the building. All of us quickly hid under the tables gripping the wall tightly.

Then, the ceiling just on top of me suddenly fell down knocking my table and landed on a table in front of me.

More and more of the ceiling fell as the shaking continued.

I was so lucky that the ceiling did not fall directly on my head. Fiuh... I survived the huge quake!

After a few minutes, the shaking stopped and all of us tried to find ways to escape from the building. A lot of people could be seen gathering outside the library and a few people got injured by broken glass.

I am a JPA sponsored student and all of the students here are safe. We are all alright!!! - Thanks and regards, Eric Ong Yi Feng

Seng Lip Ferguson Experiences:

I am a Malaysian living in Auckland but would still like to share about the 6.3 earthquake that struck Christchurch 9 minutes to 1pm today NZ time.

My husband and I were down there on Feb 5 for a holiday and now back in Auckland. We took a photo of the iconic building Christchurch Cathedral before the earthquake and compare it to an after-earthquake photo of the church.

It is a shock to see the heart of Christchurch has toppled and so far 65 people are confirmed dead in the city.

Many more are still trapped under the rubbles. We were thinking what a nice place it is to retire but seeing it being hit twice by major earthquakes is unbelievable and sad.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Christchurch now. - Seng Lip Ferguson from Auckland, NZ