On the 22nd of February, Christchurch was hit by 6.3 earthquake. The city has suffered terrible loss of life and an estimated $10 Billion damage. My house has been badly damaged and I am currently living with friends while waiting for an engineering assessment.

Here is a quick overview of ICT issues in Christchurch:

• Many buildings are inaccessible and physical access to offices is not possible.
• Many businesses will resort to recovering from backup tape.
• Power is out to large parts of the city still after 6 days
• Cellphone networks were running on batteries and generators and are under heavy loads making communication difficult. Txt messaging is the most practical method of staying in touch.
• Phone lines aren’t working in many areas.
• IT Service Providers are relocating people to data centres and alternative locations
• Most data networks seem to have survived.
• People are using twitter ( #eqnz ) and facebook to stay in touch.
• Other services like sewage and water are badly damaged

Over the next few weeks many IT people will be working to get our businesses back online, what ever it takes!

As well as fixing  computers the guys at Datasouth are offering hugs for anyone who needs one 🙂