The first anniversary of the earthquake has changed us

Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake which struck our city at 12:51pm on February 22nd last year, killing 185 people and injuring approximately 11,000 others.

One small mercy we can be grateful for is the fact that the major earthquake we had here in September 2010 forced the closure of many buildings that would have otherwise been occupied last February, and this would have likely led to a greater number of fatalities and casualties.

I have to admit that in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s anniversary last year’s tragic events were not something that weighed that heavily on my mind, and I suspect that this was probably also true for most of my fellow Cantabrians.

That all changed very dramatically on Wednesday however.

It was as if we, the city of Christchurch, had collectively woken on Wednesday morning to find that the horrific events of February 22nd, 2011 suddenly had an immediacy and daunting presence that they hadn’t had for us since they took place last year.

The terrifying reality of all that took place in our city on that fateful Tuesday last February suddenly came flooding back to us, and in many ways the torrent of memories and emotions was almost as unexpected as the actual tragedy itself was last year.

I suspect that for many of us the shock of February 22nd 2011 had been something we had moved on from without ever personally confronting, or stopping to properly process. The unavoidable pull of the calendar simply dragged us further and further away from that tragic February day, and as the demands of work, family and other aspects of our lives began to exert their influence over us again February 22nd 2011 simply became another ‘something’ (albeit a rather massive ‘something’) in our rear view mirror.

But as the automotive warning sticker reminds us, ‘objects in the rear-view mirror are always closer than they appear’, and never was that proved more true than on Wednesday when the difficult reality of last February’s life-shattering events were brought back into full and unavoidable focus for all of us here in Canterbury.

I believe that for many of us Wednesday was the first time we actually took time to process, to think deeply, and to contemplate the full reality and scale of the events that took place in our city on that dark day last February.

Although practical rebuilding steps have already begun, I feel that Wednesday’s first anniversary was actually the first real step that our city has collectively taken on the journey to healing and moving forward from the February 2011 earthquake.

Wednesday felt like more than just a day of remembrance and mourning, it seemed to me that it was the first time that we as a city stopped and took the time to accept that something terrible, frightening and totally devastating had wrought itself upon us last February.

No longer were the victims of this tragedy just a three digit number in a newspaper story, they were now real people, with real names, and for most of us Wednesday’s memorial was probably the first time that we had heard all 185 of those names read out aloud.

I can remember in vivid detail exactly where I was when the tragic events of February 22nd 2011 unfolded, and I can also remember in that same vivid detail exactly where I was when the full list of the names of all 185 people who died in that earthquake were read out at the anniversary service on Wednesday this week.

I wasn’t at the memorial service, I was in my car, on the way there, listening to the live radio broadcast, driving past a long row of orange road cones with flowers placed in the top of them as a memorial to the victims. When I look back on it now it seems fitting that I was driving past those cones at the moment when the names of all 185 earthquake victims were read out.

I don’t mind telling you that for the first time ever, I was overcome by the raw emotion of last February’s earthquake, and I cried for the victims, for the tragedy, and for the sheer overwhelming nature of what February 22nd 2011 was.

Last February may have thrown us together and unified us as Cantabrians, but I am convinced that Wednesday’s first anniversary has indelibly sealed that bond and firmly tied us all to an event that has forever changed the face of our city, and the very nature of what it means to be a Cantabrian.

On the drive home from Hagley Park on Wednesday evening, after the finish of the earthquake ceremony I had been at, I found myself processing the events of the day and one of my favorite songs came to mind. It’s a track called No Sound but the Wind, by a band called Editors. It’s a song that was inspired by the Cormac McCarthy novel The Road, about the journey of survival that a father and son embark upon after an apocalyptic natural disaster occurs.

For me this song captures something of the essence of the first anniversary of the February 22nd earthquake, so I thought I’d end my post with it (lyrics below)…

We can never go home
We no longer have one
I’ll help you carry the load
I’ll carry you in my arms
The kiss of the snow
The crescent moon above us
Our blood is cold
And we’re alone
But I’m alone with you

Help me to carry the fire
We will keep it alight together
Help me to carry the fire
It will light our way forever

If I say shut your eyes
If I say look away
Bury your face in my shoulder
Think of a birthday
The things you put in your head
They will stay here forever
Our blood is cold
And we’re alone, love
But I’m alone with you

If I say shut your eyes
If I say shut your eyes
Bury me in suprise
Where I say shut your eyes