I was the leading paranormal investigator in Christchurch for 15 years until a few years ago. I have investigated all the top haunts in New Zealand including 17 buildings in Christchurch itself. My opinion is that people are frazzled and have not been getting enough sleep. Nerves can do a lot! I have witnessed ghosts myself but they are all residual. An earthqauke would not create more activity.. Just haunted minds I'm afraid.

I thought I'd share this story...my father in law saw a spirit in their old house out here in Rangiora during xmas time or it may have been a few weeks after the quake, anyways...he has never ever seen anything like that in his whole life, it always appeared in the early hours of the morning and it slowly started off as a shadow, then late ron he say the contours of a lady in her 60's...long grey hair...not sure who this was or why she came through to him....she enver did anything bad, she just stood by his bed...YES he was AWAKE when it occured too...strangely she is now gone and he hasnt seen her in weeks...not even the feb quake got her back...their house is close to a 100 years old or something rather...it gave me the chills when he first told us...mother in law never saw her...when the lady came through he got a bit scared and started waving hsi hands towards her etc to try and get her to go away...it didnt work...hopefully she wont come back again...

Does anyone know the names of the plates involved in the christchurch earthquake?

I have experienced spiritual happennings before, as have some people I know, and I think thats a privilage. As far as I know I'm not anxious, and I have never been traumatised by earthquakes or anything else major. Its good to be in touch with your spiritual side,....I wouldn't even bother explaining that to the skeptics,....wouldn't waste my time.

There doesn't have to be a scientific explanation for everything. Why not leave some things to ones imagination, or, heaven forbid, personal choice. Paranormal activity doesn't always have to be a negative thing.

Many Colleges are offering a course in Ghost Hunting now.

@wolfe #42 I'm seeing a lot of words but I'm actually struggling to get any coherent meaning out of them.

You say you "have seen qualified experts in the field of scientific research into the paranormal being told by skeptics that they are wrong". I'd love to know where they got their qualifications from. Last I checked there wasn't a single respected tertiary education provider offering degrees in the field.

Show you a "skeptic with a open mind"? Start here: http://skepticsinthepub.net.nz/ :) You'll find lots.

As for pyschics, there's plenty of very substantial monetary prizes available for _any_ that can demonstrate their "abilities". Not one of these prizes has been claimed to date.

Anita #50 - You are correct that earthquakes are the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust. But this energy is caused by the constantly moving tectonic plates which are floating on the molten inside of the earth like leaves on a pond (caused by convection currents) grinding together and and creating pressure around fault lines, and an earthquake happens when something gives way under that pressure. It has nothing to do with buildups of electromagnetic energy caused by the solar flares/storms. Thats just ridiculous.

Any earthquake can affect people psychologically - how can it not? I cant imagine anyone in that situation not suffering from various degrees of post traumatic stress, so their senses will be jumping at anything that shifts or moves. Someone above mentioned aftershocks, and when those finally settle so do buildings. Obviously homes and other structures will be affected long term that are still standing and livable, some damage to buildings will be subtle and draws may slide out by themselves, doors may not close properly or may pop open as buildings settle, that kind of thing.

I think that anyone who hasn't dealt with such a stressful and terrifying situation and hasn't taken the time to talk through what happened to them in the earthquake, will try to be 'staunch', 'she'll be right' mind-set, and ignore what has happened, will find their body will not let them and it will start affecting them, they may start to experience ghosts when others in the same room don't see them for example... This is not to say that others don't see the same thing at the same time at other times, ghosts are known to be around in general... But being 'Staunch' is so typically self-dehumanising... yet us NZ'ers have it so typical in our culture, particularly in smaller communities like Christchurch. Just my thoughts.

yes i hear these strange noises too, its because the house is slowly changing back to how it originally stood... ghosts... lol more like beams bending back into shape... get a real job u bums