Former Eldorado man was near epicenter of New Zealand quake

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Several people with local ties were in New Zealand at the time of a massive earthquake that so far has left 98 dead and 226 missing.

This morning, hopes were fading for the missing, who are trapped underneath collapsed buildings in Christchurch.

David Cochran, a 1964 graduate of Eldorado High School now living in Minnesota, was in Christchurch near the downtown area when the quake struck. He boarded a flight to Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday.

"My wife and I were in the Canterbury Museum at the time of the earthquake. The museum is just off the Central Business District where the majority of the damage exists as well as the majority of the fatalities. Fortunately for us, the museum was one of the better buildings in the area as the government has spent millions to protect the artifacts in case of such an event. The shaking was unbelievable. It was impossible to stand up. My wife was in the adjoining room and I was struggling to find her. We immediately lost electricity.

"We needed only to get across one room to get out of the museum and the staff were yelling for everyone to exit the building. It was only as we exited the building that we started seeing the damage. Damage was everywhere and we were still experiencing aftershocks with only minutes between them. Everyone was directed to the garden area next to the museum to get in an area where none of the buildings could fall on you. We stayed in this area for several hours and as others came into the gardens, they were relaying to us the amount of damage in the CBD. When we heard that the cathedral had collapsed, that is when we realized how powerful the earthquake was. Within minutes, we realized that there were going to be many fatalities and injuries.

"Everyone was in some degree of shock. Most were asking each other if they were OK. Most people seemed at a loss to know what to do. You might sit for a while on a bench of the lawn and then go walk around for awhile. At one point, my wife Karen and I decided to walk a few blocks into the CBD to see the damage. We only got about three blocks when we had another severe aftershock that caused a couple of the buildings right around us to further collapse.

"After this aftershock, we decided to see if we could make our way back to our hotel. Everyone was walking in the middle of the streets in an effort to stay away from falling debris from the aftershocks. Water was starting to flow up through the ground almost everywhere. I assumed it was from broken water mains. However, later we found that it was from liquidfraction, which is where the water flows from the aquifer to the surface. Along with it was a very fine sand/silt that blocked several of the streets.

"After a couple of hours, we were able to get to our hotel. Our room looked like it had exploded. All the drawers were out of the cabinets. Broken glass was everywhere. There, of course, was no power or water. The hotel owner was able to get a portable radio and we started getting reports of the massive damage in the CBD. Emergency response officials were also asking people to stay off the streets to allow rescue vehicles full access.

"While we stayed in our hotel room that night, no one really slept, as we were getting aftershocks constantly. They reported over 16 aftershocks in the first twelve hours after the initial quake.

"The airport was closed until 8 a.m. the next morning and then only domestic flights were active. International flights started the next afternoon. All visitors were asked to leave Christchurch as soon as possible to make room for rescue personnel. Since we were in a hotel room and there were thousands sleeping on the ground in the parks, we decided we would wait until the following day and take our scheduled flight out from Christchurch to Sydney, Australia. We arrived in Sydney about 5 hours ago.

"The damage in Christchurch is unbelievable. Frankly, we did not see a single building that was not damaged. Fortunately, no one in our immediate area was killed or even seriously injured. Both my wife and I discussed the guilt we felt leaving Christchurch with all the help that was needed, but that was what the officials wanted. Our thoughts are, and will be with, the wonderful people in Christchurch for some time. We have spent the last four weeks driving around New Zealand and it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Please keep the people of Christchurch in you prayers."