Our Quake Terror ; We Ran for Our Lives When Earthquake Hit the Shopping Centre

Summary

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A TEESSIDE family was left desperately waiting for news of a loved one after the massive earthquake which rocked New Zealand. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck six miles outside Christchurch, causing widespread devastation as buildings buckled, trapping people inside and killing at least 75. Falling debris crushed two buses, killing passengers, and emergency services are working flat out to rescue the stricken - with at least 300 still missing earlier today. One Briton has so far been confirmed among the dead. And a Billingham family was among those facing an anxious wait for news in the early hours yesterday as they made desperate attempts to get in touch with Sean Clark, who was working in the city.

The 43-year-old chartered civil engineer had been there for a month and was just a mile away from the city centre, in a meeting, when the lunchtime quake struck. He said: "It was quite violent. I was looking around to see what everyone else did. We were sat down. I think a few people stood up and held onto walls and tables. All the shelving and things like that in the office fell over through the shaking." Sean was unharmed and sent reassuring texts to his family, but phone line disruption meant they did not get through to the UK, which is 11.5 hours behind in time. His brother Andrew Clark, 34, was up late on the internet and, seeing the news, phoned Sean's wife Louise, 39, at 2.30am British time yesterday. Louise, mum to Hannah, 12, and Joseph, 10, said: "I could not go back to bed. I was sat looking at pictures. I had Facebook, Skype and mobile phones out, waiting for anything coming through.

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Extract

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Our Quake Terror ; We Ran for Our Lives When Earthquake Hit the Shopping Centre

"It was difficult not to let your mind run away with you." Sean's other brother, Gary Clark, 44, lives in Sydney, Australia....

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