Bryce Hodgson sits in his Escondido home office and stares into a computer screen filled with living streaming video from the town he once called home.
He just can't pull away.
"It's sad because you've lived in a place for a long time, understood what it's like and what the culture is like, and it's changed in a second," said Hodgson.
The New Zealand native lived in Christchurch for ten years, had his three sons while living there, and still owns a business headquartered in the heart of the city.
He first learned of the quake through a text message from an employee who was in a company meeting when the entire room started shaking.
Since that time, Hodgson has spent many hours Facebooking friends and family to make sure they're okay, exchanging text messages with others, and Skyping co-workers who are fleeing the devastation.
"We have a lot of friends who live in older buildings in that area and we've heard nothing about them," said Hodgson.
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His company's building was damaged in Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake, but all of the employees escaped without injury.
"We're not allowing any staff back in the building at this stage, until we can get a proper assessment because these aftershocks are significant," said Hodgson.
The images, which continue to flow in from Christchurch, are a world away from Escondido, but all too close to home.
