> I looked at the map, and the epicenter is pretty far inland, and not
all
> that close to Christchurch.=20

Only about 20-30 miles, that is nothing in distance for an earthquake.

> It will be nothing like a 7.0 there, which is
> something most properly designed (and inspected without payoff)
buildings
> should be able to take without major structural damage.

Hang on, get a grip on some figures. This is the same magnitude as the
recent one in Haiti, the difference is that NZ has building codes that
take account of the need for withstanding earthquakes. The other lucky
factor is that it occurred at 4:35am, so most people would be asleep in
bed. Most of the damage seems to have occurred in the central business
district, so if it had occurred during a business day (essentially every
day as NZ has 24/7 shopping available) then the casualty rate could have
been potentially quite significant. Instead because no-one has died
(well, I believe there is one death due to a heart attack that can be
attributed to the quake) it has very quickly faded from the news feeds.

Some photos of damage around the Canterbury University library here
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=3D1&gal_cid=3D1502728&gall=
e
ry_id=3D113731#7076979

This set has pictures of road and building damage
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=3D1&gal_cid=3D1&gallery_id=
=3D
113727#7076840

More infrastructure damage here
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=3D1&gal_cid=3D1&gallery_id=
=3D
113682#7074689

Aftershock map here - about 90 of them ...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=3D1&objectid=3D10671497

One of the headlines on those pages is 'still no water for 15% of
homes', so the infrastructure has some sever damage.

There are also links to various videos on those pages for those wanting
to use up some spare time ... ;)
--=20
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