My family and I were all sitting around watching a video  at home when the earthquake hit.

There was a big bang, everything shook and the windows rattled. We lived opposite a school and Dad thought the gas tanks had exploded.

After we checked and the school was fine, Dad started to worry which made all of us scared.

He had a transistor radio and that is how we heard that there had been an earthquake.

My big sister was an 18 year old trainee nurse and she was in town helping out at the park.

The photo of Carolyn and I was taken at a Lions fundraiser at Speers Point Park.

Her dad was the president of the Lions Club so we went along to all their fundraisers. We were laughing about how big the shirts were because we were just little girls.

My friends at school saw the picture in the paper and Mum put it in my 21st birthday scrapbook.

I don’t think the earthquake affected me very much. 

I had always wanted to be a paediatric nurse since I was very young before the earthquake.

I can see the physical changes in Newcastle though. Carolyn now lives in Canada.

Camilla Askie

Then 10 year old School student, Charlestown