CU officials are saying they are not too concerned for study abroad students after a 7.4 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand early Saturday morning, New Zealand time.
CU Director of International Education Larry Bell said his office is working to get in touch with the six CU students who are currently studying abroad in Christchurch.
“We haven’t heard directly from all of them, but they have all been contacted through the organization that we work with to get them there in the first place,” Bell said. “What we have heard from that organization that we work with is that none of the students that they work with have been injured and there have been no serious injuries that have been reported at all from this earthquake.”
Bell said that at this point they have sent e-mails to all of the students and are encouraging them to contact their parents first to let them know they are OK.
Amy Mishkin, who is currently studying abroad in Dunedin, New Zealand, which is about four hours from Christchurch said she was in Australia when the earthquake struck.
Mishkin,a 21-year-old junior integrated physiology major, said that she was glad to know that everyone was okay.
“I have been to Christchurch a bunch and have a lot of friends there,” said Mishkin. “By the time I heard about it, I knew that everyone was fine. A bunch of people were woken up by it in Dunedin… I wasn’t really scared because everyone was fine. They are really lucky it happened so early in the morning. It’s crazy to think about… but I am just glad that everybody is fine!”
Bell said they expect to hear back from the students over the weekend.
“If there are any we haven’t heard from within the next 24 to 48 hours we will take a more proactive approach,” Bell said.
The CU Independent will update this story as more information becomes available.
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Ellie Bean at Beanee@colorado.edu.
