Christchurch Earthquake Damage

Ground rupture from Darfield quake

Christchurch suffered countless earthquakes and aftershocks in 2010 and 2011. Unlike Chile's recent subduction-type earthquake, and the one anticipated for Oregon, these quakes were relatively short duration (15 seconds) and emanated from shallow, crustal tears in the earth (some had significant surface expression evident by shifted fences and open cracks in the earth). They did not occur where expected and some of the faults that ripped were previously not identified. This type of earthquake does not generate tsunamis but it's intense shaking causes a lot of damage.

The historic Art Center being propped up

Two of these events caused most of the damage. The first was in September 2010. It was a 7.0 and occurred in the wee hours of the morning. This earthquake caused a lot of damage but there were miraculously no lives lost and few buildings were affected. The second earthquake was in February 2011. It was a 6.3 and occurred mid afternoon on a busy work day. The massive shaking and close proximity of the fault of this quake were devastating to Christchurch. The soil beneath much of the city is sand and the water table is just under the surface, the perfect recipe for liquefaction, a condition where the sand looses its strength almost completely and can no longer support foundations. Often the soils are variable over a very small area so that buildings sink differentially and tip over or break apart (this happened to a lot of houses too).

Most church spires fell and are being preserved.

Over 200 people were killed in the 2011 quake, mostly by collapsing buildings. The Central Business District was demolished. Christchurch had hundreds of 100 year old, beautiful brick buildings with spires and towers. Tourists flocked to the downtown to see the beautiful buildings, like the Arts Center, Cathedral Square and the many old churches that dotted the city. Most of these are now heaps of rubble. Nearly 100,000 homes were damaged and somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 were completely condemned, bought up by the government and are being demolished.

The Art Center Spire

Utilities were also wrecked. People were without power for days, but out of water and sewer services for weeks. I read a newspaper article that outlined the condition of lifeline services several days after the February quake. It suggested that people dig biffies in the yards (mind you the groundwater table is often only 6-inches below the surface) or make portable toilets using double plastic bags. There were dump sites set up in neighborhoods. Eventually port-o-potties were set up for neighbors to share. They are still very much in the process or repairing these systems. It seemed like the streets were ripped up at every corner to repair damaged pipes making travel through the city slow.