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New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

bbc.co.uk

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Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#141

Post by disordinary »

rodgerd wrote: post #112
disordinary wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah Wellington has always taken it seriously, I remember the building where I worked in 2002 had a sticker on it by the council saying the building wasn't earthquake safe. The buildings here are much more earthquake safe than Christchurch but also the damage potential is much higher.

> Yeah Wellington has always taken it seriously, Only sort of. We have the whole dynamic of pushing out the date buildings are supposed to be meeting requirements, and dodgy engineers signing off on buildings that are below target NBS.

As far as pushing out the dates, buildings with a big sticker on them saying they are unsafe tend to struggle to find tenants, and when they do the rent has to be very cheap, so most building owners either sell the buildings or strengthen them.

Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#142

Post by nom »

disordinary wrote: post #139
nom wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is not my first language, so what exactly is the problem here? Please explain.

The poster used slang to reference the event and someone else was making fun of the slang by taking it literally, completely trivialising the fact that a huge natural disaster occurred which resulted in death, injury, and hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in damage.

I _am_ that poster. English is my second language and I wasn't aware that the word heavy is perceived as slang. I should've used "serious".

Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#145

Post by sixo »

disordinary wrote: post #85
overcast wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's that word again. "Heavy." Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?

People are dead and trapped under collapsed buildings in Kaikora and this is what upsets you?

If each of us bore all the suffering in the world at once, we'd never get anywhere.

You've inserted yourself in a conversation occurring a tremendous distance from the events, and it's not like the comment was even making light of the situation.

Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#146

Post by zb »

snovv_crash wrote: post #77
overcast wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's that word again. "Heavy." Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?

It's surfer slang, elements of which have made their way into a lot of the English spoken in NZ, Oz and SA.

According to their profile, the author of the post is a native German speaker. In German, the same word ("schwer") means both "heavy" and "difficult" or "serious" (in the sense that somebody in such a situation is carrying a heavy burden). The literal translation would be "heavy".

English is a Germanic language, so perhaps in a sense this meaning has always been part of it. As you point out, even if it's not considered completely idiomatic most people would have no trouble interpreting the meaning.

Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#147

Post by greggman »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #26

Currently in Wellington. Was fucking shaky, seriously thought the building was about to collapse. This was ~500 km from the epicenter. We were evacuated and let back in. All the planning in the world doesn't prepare you for the real thing, the first thing you're meant to do is keep calm, and I sure as hell didn't. I sprinted right the fuck out of my apartment building, I have 4 levels above me, hiding under a table w…

Advice in Japan is stay inside. They claim running outside during an earthquake your more likely to get hit by falling glass and other debris

Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#148

Post by disordinary »

sixo wrote: post #145
disordinary wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are dead and trapped under collapsed buildings in Kaikora and this is what upsets you?

If each of us bore all the suffering in the world at once, we'd never get anywhere. You've inserted yourself in a conversation occurring a tremendous distance from the events, and it's not like the comment was even making light of the situation.

The internet is global you realise that right? People who are on here are experiencing and have experienced these events, don't assume that everyone is based in the US. They may even have had loved ones missing at the point that this conversation was happening.

And it was a conversation about a disaster as it was happening in complete real time, one which resulted in a loss of life, displaced families, and hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars worth of damage. It wasn't a past event which can be trivialised, it was being trivialised as people were being pulled from the rubble of their homes and workplaces.

This particular conversation was occurring between people, some of whom were far away from the events and some of whom were being shaken as they typed.

Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#149

Post by disordinary »

nom wrote: post #142
disordinary wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The poster used slang to reference the event and someone else was making fun of the slang by taking it literally, completely trivialising the fact that a huge natural disaster occurred which resulted in death, injury, and hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in damage.

I _am_ that poster. English is my second language and I wasn't aware that the word heavy is perceived as slang. I should've used "serious".

No, you're fine. It was just the reply seemed a little inappropriate.

Re: New Zealand earthquake: Tsunami follows powerful tremor

#150

Post by snapit »

I am in Hanmer Spring on holiday with the kids. Was 15km from the Epicenter when it hit. Big shake for a long time. One of the kids didn't wake up... worst thing that happened in our house was the shampoo falling into the bath, so pretty blessed there. All roads closed so guess we have an extended holiday. Lots of very big after shocks.
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