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Surviving 7.8: New Zealanders Respond to the Earthquakes of November 2016
The story of New Zealand's response to our second most powerful earthquake on record.
It was one of the most violent earthquakes ever felt. Arriving by stealth after midnight on November 14, the Kaikoura magnitude 7.8 and its aftershocks shook New Zealand's heartland to its core and created a damage zone of epic proportions.
Capturing the drama as it unfolded, Surviving 7.8 is a tough but fascinating study in resilience. Throughout the narrative are stories from the people affected – locals and tourists alike – covering the immediate reaction, the uncertainty and the turmoil, as well as the do-it-yourself attitude and steely resolve that defines who we are as Kiwis.
Sales of Surviving 7.8 support the New Zealand Red Cross November 2016 Earthquake Appeal, enabling caring people and organisations from across New Zealand and around the world to support the people affected. Contributions from the sale of this book will go to this appeal and to support the training and resources of Red Cross Disaster Support and Welfare Teams so that they are ready to respond to the next disaster in New Zealand, wherever it may be.
It was one of the most violent earthquakes ever felt. Arriving by stealth after midnight on November 14, the Kaikoura magnitude 7.8 and its aftershocks shook New Zealand's heartland to its core and created a damage zone of epic proportions.
Capturing the drama as it unfolded, Surviving 7.8 is a tough but fascinating study in resilience. Throughout the narrative are stories from the people affected – locals and tourists alike – covering the immediate reaction, the uncertainty and the turmoil, as well as the do-it-yourself attitude and steely resolve that defines who we are as Kiwis.
Sales of Surviving 7.8 support the New Zealand Red Cross November 2016 Earthquake Appeal, enabling caring people and organisations from across New Zealand and around the world to support the people affected. Contributions from the sale of this book will go to this appeal and to support the training and resources of Red Cross Disaster Support and Welfare Teams so that they are ready to respond to the next disaster in New Zealand, wherever it may be.
- GenresNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2017
3 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 31, 2019
After recently travelling through New Zealand, I found this book fascinating. I was able to picture all of the locations clearly in my mind and it was hard to imagine that less that 3 years ago things looked very different!
The people of New Zealand are so resilient and the most friendly and welcoming communities we've had the pleasure to visit. These stories highlight their amazing communities and the way they all pull together in tough times.
Definitely worth a read for anyone travelling through New Zealand.
The people of New Zealand are so resilient and the most friendly and welcoming communities we've had the pleasure to visit. These stories highlight their amazing communities and the way they all pull together in tough times.
Definitely worth a read for anyone travelling through New Zealand.
March 1, 2019
Rather than write a review per se, here's an email of thanks I sent to a chap in Auckland who sent the book to my father and myself to read here in the U.S.
***
Good day, Laurie, I recently finished a fine book by Phil Pennington, "Surviving 7.8," which you were kind enough to send across the world to us. Mr. Pennington has quite a conversational voice, and really puts the reader there "on the ground," particularly in the first hours after the quake hit. I found that to be reportage of the first order, and I appreciated how he included the posts from social media, notably from the bloke who said his chimney "thought it would introduce itself to our neighbours." Extremely amusing!
As my fiancee is British, a lot of the slang in the book I didn't have to "translate" from the Queen's into Yankee, *however* there were several Kiwi terms I wasn't familiar with, such as "ute" and "bonnet" in reference to vehicles, as well as Maori words like "paua" unfamiliar to me.
But thanks to the Internet, I was able to soon discern their meaning.
And I didn't realize the Parliament building in Wellington was referred to as the "Beehive" but one look at it in online photos certainly explains it. Do you reckon there is much to "see" in Wellington? My only experience of it was as a flight waypoint between Queenstown and Auckland, and I never left the airport.
I'm somewhat embarrassed, working in the news biz, that I didn't know about the 2016 earthquake until Dad gave me the book for my birthday in 2017. But thanks to the book, I now know much more. I enjoyed the read and the virtual travelogue of being back in your country, which I hope to see again at some point. The book I felt sagged a bit toward the latter chapters, but again, it was great to revisit New Zealand in Pennington's pages. The images he included were amazing, particularly the one of the train tracks tossed away from their moorings like so many toys. Wow. And the "slips" across State Highway 1. Amazing the roads are passable once again.
Thanks also for the article you included about how the quake affected the wine industry. Nature seems it has it in for the grapes, including here in the U.S., where floods and fires have done their damage to California's crops. Is nothing sacred???
Thanks again for sending the book across the seas. Both Althoffs have enjoyed it. I also enjoyed reading the letter you included inside the book, filled with your singular wit about the "idiot" in North Korea, with whom our idiot was meeting this week in Vietnam.
Best to you and yours. Thanks again for the thought in sending on the tome, Laurie.
Best,
Eric
***
Good day, Laurie, I recently finished a fine book by Phil Pennington, "Surviving 7.8," which you were kind enough to send across the world to us. Mr. Pennington has quite a conversational voice, and really puts the reader there "on the ground," particularly in the first hours after the quake hit. I found that to be reportage of the first order, and I appreciated how he included the posts from social media, notably from the bloke who said his chimney "thought it would introduce itself to our neighbours." Extremely amusing!
As my fiancee is British, a lot of the slang in the book I didn't have to "translate" from the Queen's into Yankee, *however* there were several Kiwi terms I wasn't familiar with, such as "ute" and "bonnet" in reference to vehicles, as well as Maori words like "paua" unfamiliar to me.
But thanks to the Internet, I was able to soon discern their meaning.
And I didn't realize the Parliament building in Wellington was referred to as the "Beehive" but one look at it in online photos certainly explains it. Do you reckon there is much to "see" in Wellington? My only experience of it was as a flight waypoint between Queenstown and Auckland, and I never left the airport.
I'm somewhat embarrassed, working in the news biz, that I didn't know about the 2016 earthquake until Dad gave me the book for my birthday in 2017. But thanks to the book, I now know much more. I enjoyed the read and the virtual travelogue of being back in your country, which I hope to see again at some point. The book I felt sagged a bit toward the latter chapters, but again, it was great to revisit New Zealand in Pennington's pages. The images he included were amazing, particularly the one of the train tracks tossed away from their moorings like so many toys. Wow. And the "slips" across State Highway 1. Amazing the roads are passable once again.
Thanks also for the article you included about how the quake affected the wine industry. Nature seems it has it in for the grapes, including here in the U.S., where floods and fires have done their damage to California's crops. Is nothing sacred???
Thanks again for sending the book across the seas. Both Althoffs have enjoyed it. I also enjoyed reading the letter you included inside the book, filled with your singular wit about the "idiot" in North Korea, with whom our idiot was meeting this week in Vietnam.
Best to you and yours. Thanks again for the thought in sending on the tome, Laurie.
Best,
Eric
November 28, 2018
Very interesting to read.
November 16, 2020
Oddly structured but still fascinating day to day account of the Kaikoura earthquake. The pictures of those slips on Highway 1 north of Kaikoura still boggle the mind.
April 27, 2024
Some interesting stories but I found the book too choppy to really enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews