We'd never been to Lyttelton until a couple of years ago. At school we'd all learnt it was Christchurch's port, but that didn't mean you had to visit. Now everyone knows it's at the epicentre of Christchurch's earthquake. The reason I did eventually visit Lyttelton was to catch up with Johannes van Kan and Jo Grams. It's a fabulous little town, with a nice traditional pub (you walk down the corridor to the bathroom, just like the old days), lots of local music, good restaurants, great coffee, a beautiful setting. And in centre of the town the original, often funky, sometimes beautiful, apparently sturdy heritage buildings. Jo and Johannes bought the old council building and courthouse and set up house, studio and baby there. It was damaged in the first quake last September, but they still had a building. But watching TV last night, after the new quake, there was no coverage, no pictures from the town. Just word that it was near the epicentre, that the road tunnel was closed and the main street "destroyed". This morning I hear that Jo, Johannes and Ida are safe, but their building is "broken". Marg and Peter from Beverley Studios have been wonderful clients of our lab for decades. They're in the CBD and were hit badly by the September quake, and again by a major aftershock on Boxing Day. They've only had two hours daily access to their studio since then (and they used to live above it). The earthquake update page on their website gives an insight into the impact. This time they were safely away at Lake Tekapo with family, and there's no way they can get back to check for new damage. Neil and Katherine from Tandem Studio operate mainly from home but they had a rented studio that was damaged in the September quake, so moved to new premises in the Square … right opposite the Cathedral, which crumbled yesterday. They're fine but Neil says it doesn't look good for the new studio either. We don't do as much business in Christchurch as we'd likely, mainly because there's a local album company run by a fine gentleman, Brian Whitehouse. I phoned this morning. They have a big clean-up on their hands. Our hearts go out to Brian, his staff and customers, just as they do to our own. I know there are tragedies around the world daily, but there's no escaping it, the ones close to home hit deepest. We're hundreds of miles away and perfectly safe, but close to home is how it feels. Ian Update: Photos of Lyttelton and surrounds after the quake;