Guy Vilner, 23, was making eggs Tuesday when the whole house started to shake.
“It was just like in the movies only much scarier,” says the Israeli tourist. “We just grabbed each other and ran outside, but we couldn’t run; we fell because of the earthquake.”
Vilner and the other travelers staying at Chabad-Lubavitch of New Zealand’s hostel in Christchurch, a group of about 15, fled to the street, where they watched the buildings around them come crashing down. When it was over, people clamored to their cars to leave the city, and he headed to nearby Latimar Square park, where he found Chabad House co-director Rabbi Shmuel Friedman taking names and passport numbers “so our parents would know we were okay.”
The 6.3 magnitude earthquake – the first of a series of temblors that would hit the area over the next few days – left houses and streets in shambles. It claimed the lives of 75 people, including four Israeli citizens.
In the confusion and panic that first afternoon, people went in and out of buildings and houses amidst the wounded and the dead, trying to help people keep calm until professional aid arrived. Sometime later, the Salvation Army came and set up a giant shelter in the park.
“They gave everyone food and beds,” recalls Vilner, “and then there were big busses that took us to the airport.”
The airport was a scene unto itself. Many people had left money, passports and phones behind. Vilner, though, made it to Melbourne, Australia, where he found Chabad-Lubavitch of New Zealand director Rabbi Mendel Goldstein. Goldstein happened to be traveling when the quake hit, and has spent the last few days coordinating housing for evacuees and serving as a relay for phone calls between tourists, locals, and their family members.
Friedman, who is still on the ground in Christchurch with his family, says they’re “taking it day by day” as the city remains in a state of emergency. He had been in the Chabad House with an Israeli backpacker when the earthquake hit. The walls started caving in and the ceiling began to crumble from above.
“Somehow we got to the exit and made it down the stairs,” he describes.
After fleeing, the rabbi gathered together some 60 Israeli backpackers that were in the immediate vicinity. The Chabad House, or what remains of it, is currently unreachable; the center of the city has been closed off and evacuated for the time being.
Bettina Wallace, vice president and community liaison for the Christchurch Jewish community, says that community members have mobilized wherever possible to make sure everyone’s okay. With large patches of the city still without electricity or water and the cellular network spotty and overloaded, she says people have been checking in via text and in person.
“The situation is pretty bleak; the devastation is tremendous and has affected the whole city,” says Wallace.
While a number of homes have been damaged, everyone has been taken care of. The community’s synagogue is damaged but still standing, so services have been suspended for the moment, reports Wallace, but officials are hoping to have it sorted out in short order.
“If we have services, we might have them at a private home, but we have to get everybody space first to see where we’re at,” she adds. “We’re all really in shock and traumatized, but we’re all fine.”
Wallace has been fielding hundreds of text messages and phone calls from the community of 250 to 300 families. Reaching out to older members of the community has meant asking those who live nearby to go check on them or making the unusually long trek through flooded streets and past downed bridges. Many have gone to stay with relatives elsewhere for the time being.
The Chabad House’s website reminds tourists to “get as far from the earthquake zone as possible and to call home ASAP” and urges community members to consider relocating to other areas.
“We already have a number of open homes, apartments, and hotel rooms waiting to welcome you in,” the site reads. “And there will be many more available shortly.”
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