By Stephanie Froese

P.A. man still shaken by New Zealand earthquake

Mar 6, 2011 | 10:34 AM

Earthquakes have again shaken the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

A major quake on Feb. 22 caused extensive damage to buildings and a death toll that’s estimated at about 200 people. Saturday the area again felt trembling from a 4.5 magnitude aftershock.

As of Friday, there were still many people living without water and without power. This weekend was the first time since the earthquake that the public was allowed back to some of the hardest hit areas to assess the damage of their personal property.

Eddie Simon, a musician from Prince Albert now lives in Christchurch, said the police and army have been doing a good job of keeping everything secure, but people’s morale has been hit hard.

“Just talking with friends and neighbors locally for example, everybody is basically either going through a somber kind of a numb state of mind, still there are some that are being a little more optimistic and some that are going through total depression,” Simon said.

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“There are a lot of people that have (fled) Christchurch. There are students, be it from all ages, that are going to other parts of the country to get education.”

He said out of this tragedy, the silver lining is seeing how the community has really come together.

“There’s love and support and people are reaching out to one another, meeting neighbors that they’ve never met before.”

Simon said he thinks it will be months before his household is put back in order and a while after that before Christchurch is operating normally.

Among the Countries and organizations that have sent aid, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. has pledged it will send $100,000 for earthquake relief in New Zealand.

For people who would like to financially help the people in Christchurch, Simon suggested using www.stuff.co.nz and the Red Cross as a way to give.

For more: New Zealand earthquake

Former PA resident experiences New Zealand devastation

sfroese@panow.com