This was received from our ornithologist.  He happened to be talking to Paul Scofield (Curator of birds in Canty) just when the quake struck:

<< I spoke with Paul Scofield and he says that the museum is badly damaged.  Paul's big bookshelf fell over him but, because he was on the phone to me, he was in a part of his office where a pillar stopped it from crushing him.  He had to crawl out of his office.  The exhibitions are in total disarray with many shaking apart and the glass in the big display cases having 'exploded'.  I don't know about the structural integrity of the building but part of the facade around the front door has fallen off and Rolleston (at least his statue) has fallen on his head.  To make matters worse, the sprinklers came on which means that the collections are wet.  Of course no-one has been able to check any collections and won't be able too for ages which means collections may start going mouldy.  It seems certain that the museum will be shut to the public for months.  Staff like Paul are simply leaving the city with their family until the water systems in the city are back up and running.  Additionally the museum server is completely out of action so no staff will be able to access their work e-mails, even from outside the museum.  But the good and remarkable news is that no staff or visitors were hurt apparently.  >>

Greetings,
Ricardo