Tuesday afternoon (or Monday if you're on Pacific Standard Time like the rest of us) a 6.3 earthquake rocked the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. Luckily, the Marin Independent Journal found a local angle, otherwise we'd have a hard time discussing the story that does not indicate our own city's impending fall into the Pacific Ocean at all. Catherine Berner, a Bay Area native and graduate of Redwood High in Larkspur, happened to be studying at the University of Canterbury this semester. As someone who has probably been through a few earthquake drills, she had some things to say about the quake which was determined to be another aftershock of last September's 7.1 rumbler:

"Everything started shaking," she said. "The concrete building was shaking. Books fell off the shelves. ... I was amazed the window did not break" as the structure wobbled.

As the University's Dean pointed out, no one was seriously injured on campus, but classes have been canceled for the rest of the week. The Marin IJ doesn't specifically call out the death toll, they do point out it "is expected to rise." Also present in Christchurch where much of the city is without power and water, were two West Marin Cheesemongers from the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. The Independent Journal says they're "unscathed" but could not immediately be reached for comment.

[MarinIJ]