2010 Canterbury earthquake
Encyclopedia
The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Christchurch earthquake or Darfield earthquake) was a 7.1 magnitude
earthquake
, which struck the South Island
of New Zealand at 4:35 am on local time
(16:35 UTC
).
The quake caused widespread damage and several power outages, particularly in the city of Christchurch
, New Zealand's second largest city. Two residents were seriously injured, one by a collapsing chimney and a second by flying glass. One person died of a heart attack suffered during the quake, although this could not be directly linked to the earthquake. Mass fatalities were avoided partly due to there being few houses of unreinforced construction, although this was also aided by the quake occurring during the night when most people were off the street.
The earthquake's epicentre was 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) west of Christchurch, near the town of Darfield
. The hypocentre was at a shallow depth of 10 km. A foreshock
of roughly magnitude 5.8 hit five seconds before the main quake, and strong aftershock
s have been reported, up to magnitude 6.3.
The initial quake lasted about 40 seconds, and was felt widely across the South Island, and in the North Island as far north as New Plymouth
. As the epicentre was on land away from the coast, no tsunami
occurred.
The National Crisis Management Centre in the basement of the Beehive
in Wellington
was activated, and Civil Defence declared a state of emergency
for Christchurch, the Selwyn District
, and the Waimakariri District
, while Selwyn District, Waimakariri and Timaru
activated their emergency operation centres. Initially, a curfew
was established for parts of Christchurch Central City
from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am in response to the earthquake. The New Zealand Army
was deployed to the worst affected areas within Canterbury.
Aftershocks have continued into 2011, with some causing significant damage themselves. The strongest to date occurred on 22 February 2011 which is so far estimated at magnitude
6.3. It was felt from Invercargill to Wellington. 181 people have been confirmed dead.
Claims from the earthquake were confirmed at being between $2.75 and $3.5 billion NZD
.
.
Modelling conducted for the New Zealand Earthquake Commission
(EQC) in 1991 found that earthquakes with a Mercalli intensity
of VIII (significant property damage, loss of life possible) could recur on average
in the Christchurch area every 55 years. The study also highlighted the dangers of soil liquefaction
of the alluvial sediments underlying the city, and the likelihood of significant damage to water, sewer and power supply services.
About 100 faults and fault segments have been recognised around the region, some as close as 20 km to central Christchurch. The closest faults to Christchurch capable of producing powerful earthquakes are found in the Rangiora
-Cust
area, near Hororata
, and near Darfield
. However, the 2010 quake occurred on a previously unknown fault. Scientists are investigating whether the main 2010 quake may have actually been two or three almost simultaneous earthquakes.
The main quake occurred as a result of strike-slip faulting within the crust of the Pacific plate
, near the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps
at the western edge of the Canterbury Plains
. The earthquake epicentre is located about 80 – to the south and east of the current surface expression of the Australia–Pacific plate
boundary through the island (the Alpine
and Hope Fault
s). Though removed from the plate boundary itself, the earthquake likely reflects right-lateral motion on one of a number of regional faults related to the overall relative motion of these plates and may be related to the overall southern propagation of the Marlborough Fault System
in recent geologic time. The peak ground acceleration
measured near Darfield was 1.26g (12.36 m/s2) , recorded near Darfield. This was considered by GNS scientists as an "extremely rare seismic recording made near a fault rupture". However, the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake experienced PGA of 2.2 g.
s of magnitude
2 or more have been recorded, including 26 over 5.0 magnitude
, and 2 over 6.0 magnitude. Many have caused further damage to buildings in the central business district
, and been felt as far away as Dunedin
.
On , there was a large 5.1 magnitude aftershock with an epicentre just 7 km from the city centre.
On a magnitude 5.0 aftershock with a depth of just 9 km which caused surface shaking reported at the time to be the worst since the original earthquake.
On 26 December 2010, Boxing Day
, a swarm of more than 32 shallow aftershocks, many centred directly under the city, occurred throughout the day beginning with a 4.2 jolt at 2:07am. The largest of these, the "Boxing Day aftershock", with a magnitude of 4.9, at a depth of 12 km below Opawa
was felt very strongly and caused further damage to at least 20 buildings, the closure of the central city, and cut power to more than 40,000 for some time.
On a magnitude 5.1 aftershock with a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) struck at 6:03am, waking many residents. The shock caused some minor damage and was felt as far away as the West Coast and Oamaru
.
On 6 June 2011 a magnitude 5.5 aftershock with a depth of 15 km centred in Rolleston occurred at 9:09am causing power cuts and supermarkets to close. The shock was felt widely in the South Island with reports as far South as Dunedin
and as far North as Nelson. It was the sixth largest aftershock since the magnitude 7.1 shake in September 2010.
On 21 June 2011 a magnitude 5.4 aftershock with a depth of 8 km centred south-west of Halswell
occurred at 10:34pm. The shock was felt heavily in Christchurch, causing moderate-heavy content damage in western suburbs such as Upper Riccarton
and Hornby
. Halswell New World reported that more stock had fallen from shelves in this shake than in the 22 February and 13 June
quakes.
On 22 July 2011 a magnitude 5.1 aftershock with a depth of 12 km occurred at 5:39am.
, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Lyttelton
and at a depth of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). It is regarded by seismologists as an aftershock of the 2010 earthquake. Many buildings collapsed or were significantly damaged in the quake, among them the city's iconic ChristChurch Cathedral. As of 1 June 2011, 181 people have been confirmed dead.
seismologists and geophysicists, who believe the 7.1 Mw quake consisted of three or four separate quakes. Dr John Beavan has a four-fault model consisting of a 6.5 Mw quake on the Charing Cross fault, followed by a 7.0 Mw quake on the Greendale Fault, and a 6.2 Mw quake near Hororota, with a 6.5 Mw quake on the fourth fault, which could run between West Melton, Sandy Knolls and Burnham. Dr Caroline Holden has a three-fault model, consisting of a 6.3 Mw quake of 2 – 4 seconds on the Charing Cross fault, followed by a 6.9 Mw quake lasting 7 – 18 seconds on the Greendale Fault, and an approximately 6.5 Mw quake of 15 – 18 seconds near Hororota, but she too is examining whether a four-fault model would create a better fit for seismograms recorded east of the Greendale fault, near the hypothetical fourth fault.
The second Stage-2 report was published on 1 December 2010. It divides the quake affected areas into three zones, and outlines the remediation plans for these areas.
, New Zealand's second-largest urban area with a population of 386,000. Minor damage was reported as far away as Dunedin
and Nelson
, both around 300 kilometre from the earthquake's epicentre.
The September 2010 earthquake caused two Christchurch residents to be seriously injured, one by a falling chimney and a second by flying glass, and led to many with less serious injuries. One person died of a heart attack suffered during the quake, but doctors could not determine whether the quake was the cause.
The 22 February 2011 aftershock caused a large number of deaths and casualties, along with significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. Details of this damage is listed in the article on that aftershock.
4 billion according to the New Zealand Treasury. Another projection of the cost covered by insurance (including EQC) was lower at $2.1 billion to $3.5 billion, but would still rank the quake as the world's fifth most costly to insurers.
The Earthquake Commission covers only domestic residences with private insurance and does not provide cover for businesses. The EQC payout is limited to the first $100,000 plus GST
of any individual claim, with any amount above that covered by the insurance company holding the policy. The insurance companies themselves had limited or no exposure, having offloaded most of their risk to reinsurance companies. The EQC has reinsurance of $2.5 billion with a $1.5 billion excess, so its exposure is the first $1.5 billion and any amount after the first $4 billion. It had a total fund prior to this earthquake of approx $6 billion.
For a comparison, the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
cost NZ£
7 million, equal to approximately $650 million in 2010 dollars.
were damaged, and water lines were broken. The water supply at Rolleston, located to the southwest of Christchurch, was contaminated. Power to up to 75 percent of the city was disrupted. Christchurch Hospital
was forced to use emergency generators in the immediate aftermath of the quake. About 90% of the electricity in Christchurch had been restored by 6:00pm the day of the earthquake. The repair of electricity was estimated to be more difficult in the rural areas. One building caught fire after its electricity was turned back on, igniting leaking LPG in the building. The fire was quickly extinguished by the Fire Service
before it could spread. Damage to buried pipes may have allowed sewage to contaminate the residential water supply. Residents were warned to boil tap water before using it for brushing teeth, drinking, and washing or cooking food. Several cases of gastroenteritis
were reported. By 7 September, 28 cases had been observed at the city's welfare centres. The boil water notice for Christchurch and Banks Peninsula was lifted late on 8 September 2010, after more than 500 tests conducted over three days found no contamination.
Christchurch International Airport
was closed following the earthquake and flights in and out of it cancelled. It reopened at 1:30 pm, following inspection of the terminals and main runway.
All schools and early childhood centres in Christchurch City, Selwyn and Waimakariri Districts were ordered shut until Monday 13 September for health and safety assessments. The city's two universities, the University of Canterbury
and Lincoln University
, and the Christchurch campus
of the University of Otago
were also closed until 13 September awaiting health and safety assessments.
Crime in Christchurch decreased eleven percent compared with the previous year following the earthquake, although there were initial reports of looting
in the city centre and "known criminals" trying to pass off as council workers to get into the central city cordon area. Police also observed a fifty-three percent jump in the rates of domestic violence
following the earthquake.
Many more heart attacks than usual were reported in the days following the quake. Usually the heart unit at Christchurch Hospital handles two to three heart attacks a day, but the rate had risen to eight to ten a day since the earthquake. A record number of babies for a Saturday were born at Christchurch Women's Hospital in the twenty-four hours after the quake, with the first baby arriving six minutes after the initial shock. This was at least in part due to outlying birthing centres being closed, pending structural checks, forcing more mothers to deliver at hospitals than was generally the case.
, around 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) from Christchurch. Four metres (13 ft) of sideways movement has been measured between the two sides of the previously unknown fault.
In many towns outside Christchurch, the electrical grid was disrupted, with it taking an estimated two days to fully restore power to those affected. Power outages were reported as far away as Dunedin.
Access was restricted to over 350 homes in the town of Kaiapoi, of which about 100 were deemed unsafe. Some 22 commercial properties were deemed unsafe. According to Ron Keating, Mayor of Waimakariri District, the town "will never be the same again".
As noted above, damage to buried pipes may have allowed sewage to contaminate the residential water supply, and residents were warned to boil tap water before using it for brushing teeth, drinking, and washing or cooking food. A boil water notice for most of Selwyn District was lifted on 9 September. E. coli
has been found in a water sample from Kaiapoi, and a boil water notice remained in effect for parts of Waimakariri District until 19 September.
A 5 km (3.1 mi) section of rail track was damaged near Kaiapoi
and there was lesser track damage at Rolleston
and near Belfast
. As a precaution, state rail operator KiwiRail
shut down the entire South Island rail network after the earthquake, halting some 15 trains. Two locomotives running light (i.e. without any carriages or wagons) came to a stop just 30 metres short of a major buckle in the line. After inspection, services south of Dunedin and north of Kaikoura
recommenced at 10:30 am that day. The Main South Line
, linking Christchurch with Dunedin, was given the all-clear and reopened, albeit with a 40 km/h speed restriction north of Ashburton, just after 6:00 pm to allow emergency aid, including 300000 litre of drinking water, to be railed into Christchurch. By the afternoon of Monday 6 September, the entire South Island rail network had reopened with the exception of the Main North Line between Rangiora and Addington. Freight was shuttled by road between the two points, while the TranzCoastal was replaced with a coach service.
Major bridges on State Highways
and the Lyttelton road tunnel
were inspected by the New Zealand Transport Agency
, and found to be in structurally sound condition. The only major road closure outside Christchurch was a slip in the Rakaia Gorge
, blocking State Highway 77
. The slip was partially cleared by 4:00 pm to allow a single lane of traffic through the site. Kaiapoi's main road was closed for a few days.
The quake caused damage to historic buildings in Lyttelton
, Christchurch's port town, including cracks in a church and the destruction of parts of a hotel. The Akaroa
area of Banks Peninsula
came through the earthquake relatively unscathed, though there was some damage to the town's war memorial and hospital and some homes were extensively damaged. Duvauchelle Hotel was also seriously affected.
In Oamaru
, 225 kilometres southwest of Christchurch, the earthquake caused part of a chimney on the St Kevin's College principal's residence to fall through the house, and caused the clock atop the Waitaki District Council building to stop at 4:36am. The earthquake also caused the Dunedin Town Hall
clock and the University of Otago
clocktower
to stop working in Dunedin, some 350 km away from the quake epicentre.
The earthquake was a wake-up call to many New Zealand residents. Two Dunedin supermarkets sold out of bottled water following the earthquake as people stocked up on emergency supplies.
Major stores across the South Island were affected as their distribution centres in Christchurch were closed. Both The Warehouse and Progressive Enterprises
(owners of Countdown
), which have their sole South Island distribution centres in Christchurch, had to ship essential products to their South Island stores from the North Island, while Foodstuffs
(owners of New World
and Pak'n Save
) had to ship to all their South Island stores from their Dunedin distribution centre.
board member Anna Crighton said the earthquake had been "unbelievably destructive." The historic homesteads of Hororata and Homebush inland from Christchurch were both extensively damaged, as were Ohinetahi homestead and Godley
House on Banks Peninsula
. Homebush, located at Glentunnel
only 15 kilometres from the earthquake's epicentre, was the historic home of the Deans family, one of the Canterbury Region's pioneer settler families, but was so extensively damaged that it has been described as being "practically in ruins".
The seven-storey Manchester Courts
(or MLC Building), located at the busy intersection of Manchester and Hereford Streets, was extensively damaged. It was the tallest commercial building in Christchurch when it was built in 1905–06 for the New Zealand Express Company, and blended 1890s Chicago Skyscraper
style with English Edwardian architecture. The building had a Category One Historic Places trust classification
, but was deemed unsafe and was one of just two historic CBD buildings the City Council initially proposed for immediate demolition. That decision was reversed hours later when the building's owner proposed to dismantle the building over several weeks. Demolition began on 19 October 2010 and was continuing in late January.
The 1911 Anglican church of St. John in Hororata
, five kilometres south of Glentunnel, was extensively damaged when part of its tower collapsed. The port town of Lyttelton
's most notable building, the 1876 Timeball station
, was also affected by the earthquake, though strengthening work completed in 2005 may have saved it from further damage. In the later Christchurch earthquake in February 2011 the building was severely damaged, and it is planned by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust
for it to be dismantled, with the possibility of reconstruction..
The Valley Inn Tavern in Heathcote
, built in 1877, survived the initial quake, but had to be torn down after the large 5.1 magnitude aftershock. Lincoln
's historic 1883 public house, The Famous Grouse, was also irreparably damaged and was demolished within days of the earthquake.
Many of Christchurch's major landmarks survived intact, including the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings
, the Anglican cathedral, and Christ's College. The Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
(Christchurch Basilica) also survived, although it suffered severe structural damage and also had some windows broken. The central city's iconic Christchurch Press building
also survived with only minor damage.
Most modern buildings performed as they were designed to do, preserving life rather than keeping the interior in good order. The City Council's own new Civic Building sustained some interior damage, mainly to fixtures and fittings that delayed it being reopened for a week. Others, such as the city's International Antarctic Centre
and Christchurch Art Gallery, the latter of which served as the Civil Defence Headquarters during the earthquake aftermath, suffered little or no damage and were able to be used immediately.
Christchurch Arts Centre
, housed in the former Canterbury College buildings, was less fortunate, with moderate damage to the Great Hall, the Clocktower, and the Observatory.
The structure of the University of Canterbury
's buildings survived the earthquake, but its museum collection of Greek and Roman artefacts (the Logie Memorial Collection) was significantly damaged. Also, as many of the bookshelves in the main library were toppled, with repairs expected to take until Christmas, the University arranged electronic access to many academic publishers databases for students about to sit exams.
The Oxford Terrace Baptist Church
, constructed 1881–1882, was extensively damaged. Several other Christchurch area churches also suffered serious damage, including St. Mary's Anglican church in Merivale
, St. John's Anglican church in Latimer Square, and the Rugby Street Methodist church.
The city's Repertory Theatre, on Kilmore Street in the central city, was reported to be extensively damaged and may be beyond repair, however the Repertory Theatre website notes "Beneath the rubble the lower façade is intact with not even a broken window. Further into the theatre everything was undisturbed; the auditorium, stage area, fly tower and dressing rooms intact. The historic proscenium undamaged."
Several notable buildings in the Timaru
area, 160 kilometres (99.4 mi) southwest of Christchurch, were also badly affected. A pinnacle on the tower of St Mary's Anglican Church tower fell to the ground, and the recently restored tower itself sustained "significant cracking". The spire of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Temuka
was also shifted 10 centimetres (4 in) by the earthquake, leaving it precariously balanced, and the town's historic Royal Hotel was also damaged.
Heritage experts urged building owners not to hastily demolish their buildings. The mayor warned of significant penalties for demolishing buildings without consent, and launched a fund to help repair historic buildings damaged by the quake. The Government allocated NZ$10 million towards restoration of such buildings a few days later.
. This was particularly the case in the riverside areas of Avonside
, Dallington
, Burwood
, Avondale
, and Kaiapoi
, and in river delta areas near Bexley
, Brooklands
, Spencerville
, Pines Beach, and Kairaki with other areas being affected to a substantially lesser degree or not at all. Damage from liquefaction may have been worsened by the high water table from a wet winter.
Liquefaction can also cause buried pipes to float up to the surface. This has caused problems for the gravity-fed sewer system, which may need to be completely rebuilt in some areas.
While the problem had long been well understood by planners, it is not clear that the public understood it as well, or that it widely influenced development, buying or building decisions. Liquefaction risk at the Pegasus Town
site was identified in 2005, so the developers spent approximately $20 million on soil compaction, and the ground there held firm during the quake.
The analysis especially compared the Canterbury quake with the 2010 Haiti earthquake
, which also occurred in similar proximity to an urban area, also occurred at shallow depth under the surface, and was of very similar strength. Unlike many tens of thousands of deaths in Haiti (with some estimates placing the death toll at one in ten or higher), no deaths directly attributable to the earthquake were reported in New Zealand. This was ascribed to the fact that the quake happened in the early hours of a Saturday morning, when most people were asleep in timber framed homes
, and "...there would almost certainly have been many deaths and serious injuries had it happened during a busy time of the day...". Another important factor was building practices which took earthquakes into account, starting after the 1848 Marlborough earthquake
and the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake
, both of which badly affected Wellington. These led to formal standards after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
, which have since been progressively updated. By contrast, Haiti's much lower standard codes were poorly enforced and many buildings were made of hand-made non-reinforced concrete
, which is extremely vulnerable to seismic damage. Ground shaking in populated areas of Canterbury was also generally less strong than for the Haiti quake.
Police promptly arrested a couple of opportunists who had broken into a liquor store shortly after the quake and attempted to take alcohol. Police emphasised this was only an isolated incident. The alleged offenders subsequently appeared in Court on burglary and theft charges in connection with the looting.
A state of emergency
was declared for Christchurch at on 4 September, and the city's central business district was closed to the general public. A curfew was put in place from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am for parts of the central business district. The New Zealand Army
was deployed to help the police enforce the closure and curfew.
Civil Defence also declared a state of emergency for Selwyn District and Waimakariri District. The National Crisis Management Centre in the basement of the Beehive
in Wellington
was activated, while Selwyn District, Waimakariri and Timaru
activated their emergency operation centres.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force
C-130 Hercules plane brought 42 urban search and rescue personnel and three sniffer dogs from the North Island to Christchurch the day of the quake, to help check for people buried in the rubble and determine which buildings are safe to use. There were a large number of police and engineers present in the disaster areas. The New Zealand Army
deployed personnel upon the request of the Christchurch mayor. Eighty police officers from Auckland
were dispatched to Christchurch to assist with general duties there.
The United Nations
has contacted the New Zealand government and offered its assistance, and is being informed and kept up to date about the situation. The United States military offered to send help from Hawaii; local authorities expressed gratitude for the offer, but turn it down saying they had matters under control. The Queen asked the Prime Minister to send her good wishes to the people affected by and helping recover from the quake.
Prime Minister
John Key
, who was raised in Christchurch, visited the scene of the devastation within hours of the earthquake. Christchurch mayor Bob Parker requested that the Prime Minister order the deployment of the New Zealand Army to keep stability and to assist in searches when possible within Christchurch, and the Prime Minister stated that the Army was on standby. New Zealand's Earthquake Commission
, which provides government natural disaster insurance, will be assisting by paying out on claims from residential property owners for damage caused by the earthquake. On 7 September, John Key appointed Cabinet Minister, Leader of the House
and MP for the Christchurch electorate of Ilam Gerry Brownlee
as the Minister for Earthquake Recovery to oversee the response to the earthquake.
'Welfare centres' were set up with the help of Red Cross
, The Salvation Army
and St. John Ambulance
at Burnside High School
, Linwood College
and Addington Raceway
, where over 244 people slept on the night after the quake. Tankers
delivered drinking water to the welfare centres.
A joint mayoral relief fund has been established by Selwyn District Council, Christchurch City Council and Waimakariri District Council, to which the government has initially given NZ$5 million. The Red Cross and Salvation Army
have also appealed for donations to fund their own efforts.
Under the National-led Government
the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act
was drafted and passed to assist reconstruction. The Act permits Government ministers to suspend almost any New Zealand law and attracted criticism from New Zealand and international academics specialising in constitutional law, who claim that it lacks constitutional safeguards and has set a dangerous precedent for future natural disasters.
The response to the earthquake was praised by most citizens with 94% saying that Civil Defence had performed well and 90% saying the City Council had performed well.
The earthquake occurred five weeks to the day before the Christchurch local elections. Following the earthquake, the polls for the mayoral election
swung from favourite Jim Anderton
to incumbent Bob Parker. Parker went on to win the 9 October election with a majority 53.7% of the vote.
A benefit concert
, Band Together
, was held on 23 October 2010 at Hagley Park
.
, BBC News
, The Guardian
, NDTV
, Sky News
, France 24
, CNN
, Fox News
MSNBC
, and the Chilean news agency Pichilemu News
, among others.
While the earthquake quickly became the only subject on talkback radio, other early coverage relied on comments from Police and other 24-hour services who were immediately affected and needed to communicate with the media. Because the earthquake occurred early on a Saturday morning, with only overnight staff on duty, it took several hours for some media outlets to give the event full live coverage. So it took until mid-morning for some media outlets to have sufficient stories and staff on duty to allow them to commence continuous live broadcasts. One television producer later observed that if the earthquake had happened just a few hours earlier, or later, they would have had a full studio crew on duty and have been able to go live immediately.
TV One simulcast hourly TVNZ 7 bulletins from 06:00 with details of the disaster, phone reports from Vicki Wilkinson-Baker, and phone interviews with Civil Defence officials. A One News special with a hosted by Miriama Kamo interrupted normal programming from 10:00-18:00 Saturday, an extended 90 minute One News at 6pm was hosted by Simon Dallow
in Christchurch and Bernadine Oliver-Kerby
in the Auckland studio, Oliver-Kerby hosted hourly updates through the evening, Paul Holmes
updated the story on an extended 90 minute Q&A on Sunday morning at 09:00 and Oliver-Kerby hosted a special One News at Midday bulletin on Sunday afternoon.
Radio New Zealand National interrupted some normal programming to broadcast Morning Report Saturday, Midday Report Saturday, Checkpoint Saturday and Morning Report Sunday with interviews and reports of developments.
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
, which struck the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand at 4:35 am on local time
Time in New Zealand
New Zealand has two time zones. The main islands use New Zealand Standard Time , 12 hours in advance of Coordinated Universal Time , while the outlying Chatham Islands use Chatham Standard Time , 12 hours 45 minutes in advance of UTC.During summer daylight saving time is observed and clocks are...
(16:35 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
).
The quake caused widespread damage and several power outages, particularly in the city of Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand's second largest city. Two residents were seriously injured, one by a collapsing chimney and a second by flying glass. One person died of a heart attack suffered during the quake, although this could not be directly linked to the earthquake. Mass fatalities were avoided partly due to there being few houses of unreinforced construction, although this was also aided by the quake occurring during the night when most people were off the street.
The earthquake's epicentre was 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) west of Christchurch, near the town of Darfield
Darfield, New Zealand
Darfield is a town in the Selwyn District of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 35 kilometres west from the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand on State Highway 73 and the town is on the Midland railway line, route of the famous TranzAlpine train service...
. The hypocentre was at a shallow depth of 10 km. A foreshock
Foreshock
A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as foreshock, mainshock or aftershock is only possible after the event....
of roughly magnitude 5.8 hit five seconds before the main quake, and strong aftershock
Aftershock
An aftershock is a smaller earthquake that occurs after a previous large earthquake, in the same area of the main shock. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock...
s have been reported, up to magnitude 6.3.
The initial quake lasted about 40 seconds, and was felt widely across the South Island, and in the North Island as far north as New Plymouth
New Plymouth
New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....
. As the epicentre was on land away from the coast, no tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
occurred.
The National Crisis Management Centre in the basement of the Beehive
Beehive (building)
The Beehive is the common name for the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings, located at the corner of Molesworth Street and Lambton Quay, Wellington...
in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
was activated, and Civil Defence declared a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
for Christchurch, the Selwyn District
Selwyn District
The Selwyn District is a predominantly rural area in central Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Selwyn River, which is in turn named after Bishop George Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand who, in 1843 and 1844, travelled the length of...
, and the Waimakariri District
Waimakariri District
The Waimakariri District is a political district of New Zealand, located in the South Island, on the eastern coast of north Canterbury. It is north of Christchurch and the Waimakariri River and is a part of the greater Canterbury region. The name is Māori for cold river.The district was established...
, while Selwyn District, Waimakariri and Timaru
Timaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
activated their emergency operation centres. Initially, a curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
was established for parts of Christchurch Central City
Christchurch Central City
Christchurch Central City is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the four avenues and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green...
from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am in response to the earthquake. The New Zealand Army
New Zealand Army
The New Zealand Army , is the land component of the New Zealand Defence Force and comprises around 4,500 Regular Force personnel, 2,000 Territorial Force personnel and 500 civilians. Formerly the New Zealand Military Forces, the current name was adopted around 1946...
was deployed to the worst affected areas within Canterbury.
Aftershocks have continued into 2011, with some causing significant damage themselves. The strongest to date occurred on 22 February 2011 which is so far estimated at magnitude
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
6.3. It was felt from Invercargill to Wellington. 181 people have been confirmed dead.
Claims from the earthquake were confirmed at being between $2.75 and $3.5 billion NZD
New Zealand dollar
The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
.
Geological background
In the first eighty years of European settlement in Christchurch (1850–1930), four earthquakes caused significant damage, the last of them occurring in 1922 at MotunauMotunau
- External links :Google Maps...
.
Modelling conducted for the New Zealand Earthquake Commission
Earthquake Commission
The Earthquake Commission provides primary natural disaster insurance to the owners of residential properties in New Zealand. The Government-owned Crown entity manages assets of $5.93 billion NZD...
(EQC) in 1991 found that earthquakes with a Mercalli intensity
Mercalli intensity scale
The Mercalli intensity scale is a seismic scale used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake. It measures the effects of an earthquake, and is distinct from the moment magnitude M_w usually reported for an earthquake , which is a measure of the energy released...
of VIII (significant property damage, loss of life possible) could recur on average
Return period
A return period also known as a recurrence interval is an estimate of the interval of time between events like an earthquake, flood or river discharge flow of a certain intensity or size. It is a statistical measurement denoting the average recurrence interval over an extended period of time, and...
in the Christchurch area every 55 years. The study also highlighted the dangers of soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid....
of the alluvial sediments underlying the city, and the likelihood of significant damage to water, sewer and power supply services.
About 100 faults and fault segments have been recognised around the region, some as close as 20 km to central Christchurch. The closest faults to Christchurch capable of producing powerful earthquakes are found in the Rangiora
Rangiora, New Zealand
Rangiora is a rural town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest town in north Canterbury and the seat of the Waimakariri District Council.-Geography:...
-Cust
Cust, New Zealand
Cust is a rural village in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located in north Canterbury and comes under seat of the Waimakariri District Council.Cust is about 16 km east of Oxford and 17 km west of Rangiora....
area, near Hororata
Hororata
Hororata is a small settlement at the northwestern edge of the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 15 kilometres southwest of Darfield, five kilometres south of Glentunnel, and 50 kilometres west of Christchurch, on the banks of the Hororata River.Hororata...
, and near Darfield
Darfield, New Zealand
Darfield is a town in the Selwyn District of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 35 kilometres west from the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand on State Highway 73 and the town is on the Midland railway line, route of the famous TranzAlpine train service...
. However, the 2010 quake occurred on a previously unknown fault. Scientists are investigating whether the main 2010 quake may have actually been two or three almost simultaneous earthquakes.
The main quake occurred as a result of strike-slip faulting within the crust of the Pacific plate
Pacific Plate
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....
, near the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...
at the western edge of the Canterbury Plains
Canterbury Plains
The Canterbury Plains are an area in New Zealand centred to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury Region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in the south they merge into the plains of North Otago beyond the Waitaki...
. The earthquake epicentre is located about 80 – to the south and east of the current surface expression of the Australia–Pacific plate
Pacific Plate
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....
boundary through the island (the Alpine
Alpine Fault
The Alpine Fault is a geological fault, more specifically known as a right-lateral strike-slip fault, that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island. It forms a transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Earthquakes along the fault, and the...
and Hope Fault
Hope Fault
The Hope Fault is an active dextral strike-slip fault in the northeastern part of South Island, New Zealand. It forms part of the Marlborough Fault System, which accommodates the transfer of displacement along the oblique convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and Pacific Plate,...
s). Though removed from the plate boundary itself, the earthquake likely reflects right-lateral motion on one of a number of regional faults related to the overall relative motion of these plates and may be related to the overall southern propagation of the Marlborough Fault System
Marlborough Fault System
The Marlborough Fault System is a set of four large dextral strike-slip faults and other related structures in the northern part of South Island, New Zealand, which transfer displacement between the mainly transform plate boundary of the Alpine fault and the mainly destructive boundary of the...
in recent geologic time. The peak ground acceleration
Peak ground acceleration
Peak ground acceleration is a measure of earthquake acceleration on the ground and an important input parameter for earthquake engineering, also known as the design basis earthquake ground motion...
measured near Darfield was 1.26g (12.36 m/s2) , recorded near Darfield. This was considered by GNS scientists as an "extremely rare seismic recording made near a fault rupture". However, the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake experienced PGA of 2.2 g.
Aftershocks
, 7,420+ aftershockAftershock
An aftershock is a smaller earthquake that occurs after a previous large earthquake, in the same area of the main shock. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock...
s of magnitude
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
2 or more have been recorded, including 26 over 5.0 magnitude
Moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...
, and 2 over 6.0 magnitude. Many have caused further damage to buildings in the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
, and been felt as far away as Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
.
On , there was a large 5.1 magnitude aftershock with an epicentre just 7 km from the city centre.
On a magnitude 5.0 aftershock with a depth of just 9 km which caused surface shaking reported at the time to be the worst since the original earthquake.
On 26 December 2010, Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
, a swarm of more than 32 shallow aftershocks, many centred directly under the city, occurred throughout the day beginning with a 4.2 jolt at 2:07am. The largest of these, the "Boxing Day aftershock", with a magnitude of 4.9, at a depth of 12 km below Opawa
Opawa
Opawa is an inner suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located 2.5 kilometres south-east of the city centre.The name is a contraction of Opaawaho, which means a place of an outer pā or outpost in Māori. Opaawaho or Ōpāwaho is the Māori name for the Heathcote River....
was felt very strongly and caused further damage to at least 20 buildings, the closure of the central city, and cut power to more than 40,000 for some time.
On a magnitude 5.1 aftershock with a depth of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) struck at 6:03am, waking many residents. The shock caused some minor damage and was felt as far away as the West Coast and Oamaru
Oamaru
Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...
.
On 6 June 2011 a magnitude 5.5 aftershock with a depth of 15 km centred in Rolleston occurred at 9:09am causing power cuts and supermarkets to close. The shock was felt widely in the South Island with reports as far South as Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
and as far North as Nelson. It was the sixth largest aftershock since the magnitude 7.1 shake in September 2010.
On 21 June 2011 a magnitude 5.4 aftershock with a depth of 8 km centred south-west of Halswell
Halswell
Halswell is a satellite town of Christchurch, New Zealand, located in open country nine kilometres southwest of the city centre on State Highway 75...
occurred at 10:34pm. The shock was felt heavily in Christchurch, causing moderate-heavy content damage in western suburbs such as Upper Riccarton
Upper Riccarton
Upper Riccarton is a suburb of Christchurch. It is due west of Riccarton.Upper Riccarton is made up of residential, retail and education areas. It includes a major intersection known as "Church Corner"...
and Hornby
Hornby, New Zealand
Hornby is a major residential and retail suburb at the western edge of Christchurch, New Zealand.-Naming and history:Hornby was apparently named by Frederick William Delamain, who came to Christchurch from England in 1852. The name reportedly refers to Hornby-with-Farleton in Lancashire...
. Halswell New World reported that more stock had fallen from shelves in this shake than in the 22 February and 13 June
June 2011 Christchurch earthquake
The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.3 ML earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST . It was centred at a depth of 6.0 km , about 13 km from Christchurch, which had previously been devastated by the February 2011 magnitude 6.3 ML earthquake...
quakes.
On 22 July 2011 a magnitude 5.1 aftershock with a depth of 12 km occurred at 5:39am.
22 February aftershock
An earthquake of (local) magnitude 6.3 occurred on , centred at Heathcote ValleyHeathcote Valley
-Location:The suburb is dominated by the approaches to the Lyttelton road tunnel, a major arterial that passes through the Port Hills. The road is part of the State Highway 74 network...
, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Lyttelton
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....
and at a depth of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). It is regarded by seismologists as an aftershock of the 2010 earthquake. Many buildings collapsed or were significantly damaged in the quake, among them the city's iconic ChristChurch Cathedral. As of 1 June 2011, 181 people have been confirmed dead.
13 June aftershock
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch on 13 June 2011 at a depth of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi). It was preceded by a moderate magnitude 5.6 tremor, and affected many structures previously damaged by other earthquakes. The earthquake injured a total of 46 people, while many others were evacuated from the city centre.Quake analysis
At least two models for the quake have been put forward by GNSGNS Science
GNS Science is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. It focuses on geology, geophysics , and nuclear science ....
seismologists and geophysicists, who believe the 7.1 Mw quake consisted of three or four separate quakes. Dr John Beavan has a four-fault model consisting of a 6.5 Mw quake on the Charing Cross fault, followed by a 7.0 Mw quake on the Greendale Fault, and a 6.2 Mw quake near Hororota, with a 6.5 Mw quake on the fourth fault, which could run between West Melton, Sandy Knolls and Burnham. Dr Caroline Holden has a three-fault model, consisting of a 6.3 Mw quake of 2 – 4 seconds on the Charing Cross fault, followed by a 6.9 Mw quake lasting 7 – 18 seconds on the Greendale Fault, and an approximately 6.5 Mw quake of 15 – 18 seconds near Hororota, but she too is examining whether a four-fault model would create a better fit for seismograms recorded east of the Greendale fault, near the hypothetical fourth fault.
Geotechnical reports
The Earthquake Commission has published two Geotechnical Land Damage Assessment & Reinstatement Report[s]. The first Stage-1 report was published on 21 October 2010. The report briefly describes the mechanics of the earthquake, underlying geology, residential land damage assessment, reconstruction considerations, land and building reinstatement, and remediation options.The second Stage-2 report was published on 1 December 2010. It divides the quake affected areas into three zones, and outlines the remediation plans for these areas.
Casualties, damage, and other effects
Most of the damage was in the area surrounding the epicentre, including the city of ChristchurchChristchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand's second-largest urban area with a population of 386,000. Minor damage was reported as far away as Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
and Nelson
Nelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
, both around 300 kilometre from the earthquake's epicentre.
The September 2010 earthquake caused two Christchurch residents to be seriously injured, one by a falling chimney and a second by flying glass, and led to many with less serious injuries. One person died of a heart attack suffered during the quake, but doctors could not determine whether the quake was the cause.
The 22 February 2011 aftershock caused a large number of deaths and casualties, along with significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. Details of this damage is listed in the article on that aftershock.
Financial exposure
Total Earthquake Commission (EQC), private insurance and individual costs may reach as high as NZ$New Zealand dollar
The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
4 billion according to the New Zealand Treasury. Another projection of the cost covered by insurance (including EQC) was lower at $2.1 billion to $3.5 billion, but would still rank the quake as the world's fifth most costly to insurers.
The Earthquake Commission covers only domestic residences with private insurance and does not provide cover for businesses. The EQC payout is limited to the first $100,000 plus GST
Goods and Services Tax
A goods and services tax or value added tax is a tax on exchanges.By country:*Goods and Services Tax *Goods and Services Tax *Goods and Services Tax *Goods and Services Tax...
of any individual claim, with any amount above that covered by the insurance company holding the policy. The insurance companies themselves had limited or no exposure, having offloaded most of their risk to reinsurance companies. The EQC has reinsurance of $2.5 billion with a $1.5 billion excess, so its exposure is the first $1.5 billion and any amount after the first $4 billion. It had a total fund prior to this earthquake of approx $6 billion.
For a comparison, the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47 am on Tuesday 3 February 1931, killing 256 and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster...
cost NZ£
New Zealand pound
The pound was the currency of New Zealand between 1840 and 1967. Like the British pound, it was subdivided into 20 shillings each of 12 pence. As a result of the great depression of the early 1930s, the New Zealand agricultural export market to the UK was badly affected...
7 million, equal to approximately $650 million in 2010 dollars.
Effects in Christchurch
Reports of the quake's intensity in Christchurch generally ranged from IV to VIII (moderate to destructive) on the modified Mercalli scale. A strong smell of sulphur was widely reported in Christchurch following the earthquake. SewersSewerage
Sewerage refers to the infrastructure that conveys sewage. It encompasses receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, screening chambers, etc. of the sanitary sewer...
were damaged, and water lines were broken. The water supply at Rolleston, located to the southwest of Christchurch, was contaminated. Power to up to 75 percent of the city was disrupted. Christchurch Hospital
Christchurch Hospital
Christchurch Hospital is the largest tertiary hospital in the South Island of New Zealand. The public hospital is in the centre of Christchurch city, on the edge of Hagley Park, and serves the wider Canterbury Region. It has the busiest emergency department in Australasia, and is one of four main...
was forced to use emergency generators in the immediate aftermath of the quake. About 90% of the electricity in Christchurch had been restored by 6:00pm the day of the earthquake. The repair of electricity was estimated to be more difficult in the rural areas. One building caught fire after its electricity was turned back on, igniting leaking LPG in the building. The fire was quickly extinguished by the Fire Service
New Zealand Fire Service
The New Zealand Fire Service is New Zealand's national fire fighting body. While its founding legislation, the Fire Service Act 1975, only provides for this role, the organisation has assumed responsibility for several other areas.-Strategic Direction:The New Zealand Fire Service has defined for...
before it could spread. Damage to buried pipes may have allowed sewage to contaminate the residential water supply. Residents were warned to boil tap water before using it for brushing teeth, drinking, and washing or cooking food. Several cases of gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis is marked by severe inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract involving both the stomach and small intestine resulting in acute diarrhea and vomiting. It can be transferred by contact with contaminated food and water...
were reported. By 7 September, 28 cases had been observed at the city's welfare centres. The boil water notice for Christchurch and Banks Peninsula was lifted late on 8 September 2010, after more than 500 tests conducted over three days found no contamination.
Christchurch International Airport
Christchurch International Airport
-Facts & figures:As the gateway for Christchurch and the South Island, Christchurch International Airport is New Zealand’s second largest airport.5,908,077 passengers travelled in and out of Christchurch International Airport from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009...
was closed following the earthquake and flights in and out of it cancelled. It reopened at 1:30 pm, following inspection of the terminals and main runway.
All schools and early childhood centres in Christchurch City, Selwyn and Waimakariri Districts were ordered shut until Monday 13 September for health and safety assessments. The city's two universities, the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
and Lincoln University
Lincoln University, New Zealand
Lincoln University is a New Zealand university that was formed in 1990 when Lincoln College, Canterbury was made independent of the University of Canterbury...
, and the Christchurch campus
University of Otago Christchurch School of Medicine
The University of Otago, Christchurch, formerly Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is one of three medical schools that make up the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago. It is based primarily at Christchurch Hospital, in Christchurch Central...
of the University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
were also closed until 13 September awaiting health and safety assessments.
Crime in Christchurch decreased eleven percent compared with the previous year following the earthquake, although there were initial reports of looting
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
in the city centre and "known criminals" trying to pass off as council workers to get into the central city cordon area. Police also observed a fifty-three percent jump in the rates of domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
following the earthquake.
Many more heart attacks than usual were reported in the days following the quake. Usually the heart unit at Christchurch Hospital handles two to three heart attacks a day, but the rate had risen to eight to ten a day since the earthquake. A record number of babies for a Saturday were born at Christchurch Women's Hospital in the twenty-four hours after the quake, with the first baby arriving six minutes after the initial shock. This was at least in part due to outlying birthing centres being closed, pending structural checks, forcing more mothers to deliver at hospitals than was generally the case.
Effects outside Christchurch
The quake's epicentre was around DarfieldDarfield, New Zealand
Darfield is a town in the Selwyn District of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 35 kilometres west from the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand on State Highway 73 and the town is on the Midland railway line, route of the famous TranzAlpine train service...
, around 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) from Christchurch. Four metres (13 ft) of sideways movement has been measured between the two sides of the previously unknown fault.
In many towns outside Christchurch, the electrical grid was disrupted, with it taking an estimated two days to fully restore power to those affected. Power outages were reported as far away as Dunedin.
Access was restricted to over 350 homes in the town of Kaiapoi, of which about 100 were deemed unsafe. Some 22 commercial properties were deemed unsafe. According to Ron Keating, Mayor of Waimakariri District, the town "will never be the same again".
As noted above, damage to buried pipes may have allowed sewage to contaminate the residential water supply, and residents were warned to boil tap water before using it for brushing teeth, drinking, and washing or cooking food. A boil water notice for most of Selwyn District was lifted on 9 September. E. coli
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...
has been found in a water sample from Kaiapoi, and a boil water notice remained in effect for parts of Waimakariri District until 19 September.
A 5 km (3.1 mi) section of rail track was damaged near Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi is a town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, located close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River, and approximately 17 kilometres north of Christchurch....
and there was lesser track damage at Rolleston
Rolleston, New Zealand
Rolleston is a town in the Selwyn District of Canterbury, New Zealand.It is located next to State Highway 1, 22 km south-west of Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. The town uses the slogan "The Town of the Future"...
and near Belfast
Belfast, New Zealand
Belfast is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is in the north of the city, close to the banks of the Waimakariri River.-History:Belfast is named after Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was originally known as North Road District, Seven Mile Peg, Styx, or by its Māori name Purarekanui...
. As a precaution, state rail operator KiwiRail
KiwiRail
KiwiRail Holdings Limited is the rail operations subsidiary of the New Zealand Railways Corporation, which trades as KiwiRail. Headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail transport operator in New Zealand. Since July 2010 John Spencer has been the Chairman...
shut down the entire South Island rail network after the earthquake, halting some 15 trains. Two locomotives running light (i.e. without any carriages or wagons) came to a stop just 30 metres short of a major buckle in the line. After inspection, services south of Dunedin and north of Kaikoura
Kaikoura
Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 180 km north of Christchurch.Kaikoura became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard....
recommenced at 10:30 am that day. The Main South Line
Main South Line
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...
, linking Christchurch with Dunedin, was given the all-clear and reopened, albeit with a 40 km/h speed restriction north of Ashburton, just after 6:00 pm to allow emergency aid, including 300000 litre of drinking water, to be railed into Christchurch. By the afternoon of Monday 6 September, the entire South Island rail network had reopened with the exception of the Main North Line between Rangiora and Addington. Freight was shuttled by road between the two points, while the TranzCoastal was replaced with a coach service.
Major bridges on State Highways
New Zealand State Highway network
The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...
and the Lyttelton road tunnel
Lyttelton Road Tunnel
The Lyttelton road tunnel links the New Zealand city of Christchurch and its seaport, Lyttelton. It opened in 1964 and carries just over 10,000 vehicles/day...
were inspected by the New Zealand Transport Agency
New Zealand Transport Agency
The New Zealand Transport Agency is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing and investigating rail accidents. It was created on 1 August 2008 by the Land Transport Management Amendment...
, and found to be in structurally sound condition. The only major road closure outside Christchurch was a slip in the Rakaia Gorge
Rakaia Gorge
The Rakaia Gorge is located on the Rakaia River in inland Canterbury in New Zealand's South Island.Like its neighbour, the Waimakariri River, the Rakaia runs through wide shingle beds for much of its length, but is forced through a narrow canyon as it approaches the Canterbury Plains.In the 1870s,...
, blocking State Highway 77
New Zealand State Highway 77
State Highway 77 is a State Highway in New Zealand going through the inland parts of Central and Mid Canterbury between the towns of Ashburton and Darfield via the Rakaia Gorge. It is wholly single carriageway with two one-lane bridges at the Rakaia and Selwyn Rivers...
. The slip was partially cleared by 4:00 pm to allow a single lane of traffic through the site. Kaiapoi's main road was closed for a few days.
The quake caused damage to historic buildings in Lyttelton
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....
, Christchurch's port town, including cracks in a church and the destruction of parts of a hotel. The Akaroa
Akaroa
Akaroa is a village on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name—the name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu Māori for 'Long Harbour'.- Overview :...
area of Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves...
came through the earthquake relatively unscathed, though there was some damage to the town's war memorial and hospital and some homes were extensively damaged. Duvauchelle Hotel was also seriously affected.
In Oamaru
Oamaru
Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...
, 225 kilometres southwest of Christchurch, the earthquake caused part of a chimney on the St Kevin's College principal's residence to fall through the house, and caused the clock atop the Waitaki District Council building to stop at 4:36am. The earthquake also caused the Dunedin Town Hall
Dunedin Town Hall
The Dunedin Town Hall is a municipal building in the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. It is located in the heart of the city extending from The Octagon, the central plaza, to Moray Place through a whole city block. It is the seat of the Dunedin City Council, providing its formal meeting chamber, as...
clock and the University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
clocktower
University of Otago Registry Building
The University of Otago Registry Building, also known as the Clocktower Building, is a Victorian and later structure in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It stands next to the banks of the Water of Leith and is constructed from contrasting dark Leith Valley basalt and Oamaru stone, with a...
to stop working in Dunedin, some 350 km away from the quake epicentre.
The earthquake was a wake-up call to many New Zealand residents. Two Dunedin supermarkets sold out of bottled water following the earthquake as people stocked up on emergency supplies.
Major stores across the South Island were affected as their distribution centres in Christchurch were closed. Both The Warehouse and Progressive Enterprises
Progressive Enterprises
Progressive Enterprises Limited is an Australian owned company operating in New Zealand, and a subsidiary of the Australian retail group Woolworths Limited....
(owners of Countdown
Countdown (supermarket)
Countdown is a New Zealand full-service supermarket chain, owned by Woolworths Limited. Founded in 1981, Countdown is now the flagship brand of Progressive Enterprises, Woolworths' New Zealand supermarket subsidiary, with 133 supermarkets across New Zealand...
), which have their sole South Island distribution centres in Christchurch, had to ship essential products to their South Island stores from the North Island, while Foodstuffs
Foodstuffs
Foodstuffs is a group of three New Zealand grocery and liquor retailers' cooperatives based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch which collectively control an estimated 57% of the New Zealand grocery market...
(owners of New World
New World (supermarket)
New World is a New Zealand full-service supermarket chain owned by the Foodstuffs cooperative.Founded in 1963, New World was the first American-style full-service supermarket brand of Foodstuffs, and the second in New Zealand...
and Pak'n Save
Pak'n Save
Pak'n Save is a New Zealand discount food warehouse chain owned by the Foodstuffs cooperative.Founded in 1985, Pak'n Save was the last of the five current major New Zealand supermarkets to be founded...
) had to ship to all their South Island stores from their Dunedin distribution centre.
Notable buildings
Many of the most badly affected structures in both Christchurch and the surrounding districts were older buildings, including several notable landmarks. New Zealand Historic Places TrustNew Zealand Historic Places Trust
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...
board member Anna Crighton said the earthquake had been "unbelievably destructive." The historic homesteads of Hororata and Homebush inland from Christchurch were both extensively damaged, as were Ohinetahi homestead and Godley
John Robert Godley
John Robert Godley was an Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years.-Early life:...
House on Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves...
. Homebush, located at Glentunnel
Glentunnel
Glentunnel is a small village in the Selwyn District of the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is officially recognised as a "populated area less than a town". The 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings gave Glentunnel's population as 129...
only 15 kilometres from the earthquake's epicentre, was the historic home of the Deans family, one of the Canterbury Region's pioneer settler families, but was so extensively damaged that it has been described as being "practically in ruins".
The seven-storey Manchester Courts
Manchester Courts
Manchester Courts, earlier known as the MLC Building, was a commercial high-rise building in the Christchurch Central City. Built in 1905–1906 for the New Zealand Express Company, it was at the time the tallest commercial building in Christchurch...
(or MLC Building), located at the busy intersection of Manchester and Hereford Streets, was extensively damaged. It was the tallest commercial building in Christchurch when it was built in 1905–06 for the New Zealand Express Company, and blended 1890s Chicago Skyscraper
Chicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
style with English Edwardian architecture. The building had a Category One Historic Places trust classification
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...
, but was deemed unsafe and was one of just two historic CBD buildings the City Council initially proposed for immediate demolition. That decision was reversed hours later when the building's owner proposed to dismantle the building over several weeks. Demolition began on 19 October 2010 and was continuing in late January.
The 1911 Anglican church of St. John in Hororata
Hororata
Hororata is a small settlement at the northwestern edge of the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 15 kilometres southwest of Darfield, five kilometres south of Glentunnel, and 50 kilometres west of Christchurch, on the banks of the Hororata River.Hororata...
, five kilometres south of Glentunnel, was extensively damaged when part of its tower collapsed. The port town of Lyttelton
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....
's most notable building, the 1876 Timeball station
Lyttelton Timeball Station
The Lyttelton Timeball Station was a heritage-registered timeball station and prominent local landmark in Lyttelton, New Zealand. The station was significantly damaged by a series of earthquakes and aftershocks in 2010 and 2011, and finally collapsed on the 13 June 2011 after a magnitude 6.3...
, was also affected by the earthquake, though strengthening work completed in 2005 may have saved it from further damage. In the later Christchurch earthquake in February 2011 the building was severely damaged, and it is planned by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...
for it to be dismantled, with the possibility of reconstruction..
The Valley Inn Tavern in Heathcote
Heathcote Valley
-Location:The suburb is dominated by the approaches to the Lyttelton road tunnel, a major arterial that passes through the Port Hills. The road is part of the State Highway 74 network...
, built in 1877, survived the initial quake, but had to be torn down after the large 5.1 magnitude aftershock. Lincoln
Lincoln, New Zealand
Lincoln is a town in the Selwyn District of Canterbury, New Zealand. The town has a population of 2,727.-Location:It is located on the Canterbury Plains to the west of Banks Peninsula, 22 kilometres south of Christchurch.-History:...
's historic 1883 public house, The Famous Grouse, was also irreparably damaged and was demolished within days of the earthquake.
Many of Christchurch's major landmarks survived intact, including the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings
Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings
The Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings were the buildings of the Canterbury Provincial Council that administered the Canterbury Province from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The buildings are the only purpose-built provincial government buildings in New Zealand still...
, the Anglican cathedral, and Christ's College. The Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand, commonly known as the Christchurch Basilica, is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and seat of the Bishop of Christchurch...
(Christchurch Basilica) also survived, although it suffered severe structural damage and also had some windows broken. The central city's iconic Christchurch Press building
The Press Building, Christchurch
The Press Building located in Cathedral Square in Christchurch was the home of The Press between 1909 and February 2011. The building in perpendicular Gothic is registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage item, with the registration number 302...
also survived with only minor damage.
Most modern buildings performed as they were designed to do, preserving life rather than keeping the interior in good order. The City Council's own new Civic Building sustained some interior damage, mainly to fixtures and fittings that delayed it being reopened for a week. Others, such as the city's International Antarctic Centre
International Antarctic Centre
The International Antarctic Centre is located in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch, New Zealand, close to Christchurch International Airport. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the city.-Description:...
and Christchurch Art Gallery, the latter of which served as the Civil Defence Headquarters during the earthquake aftermath, suffered little or no damage and were able to be used immediately.
Christchurch Arts Centre
Christchurch Arts Centre
The Christchurch Arts Centre is a hub for arts, crafts and entertainment in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the neo-gothic former University of Canterbury buildings, the majority of which were designed by Benjamin Mountfort...
, housed in the former Canterbury College buildings, was less fortunate, with moderate damage to the Great Hall, the Clocktower, and the Observatory.
The structure of the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
's buildings survived the earthquake, but its museum collection of Greek and Roman artefacts (the Logie Memorial Collection) was significantly damaged. Also, as many of the bookshelves in the main library were toppled, with repairs expected to take until Christmas, the University arranged electronic access to many academic publishers databases for students about to sit exams.
The Oxford Terrace Baptist Church
Oxford Terrace Baptist Church
Oxford Terrace Baptist Church is located in the Christchurch Central City on a prominent corner property fronting the Avon River, the main building was significantly damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and collapsed in the subsequent February 2011 Christchurch earthquake...
, constructed 1881–1882, was extensively damaged. Several other Christchurch area churches also suffered serious damage, including St. Mary's Anglican church in Merivale
Merivale
Merivale is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, north of the city centre. Its boundaries are defined by Statistics New Zealand as being Heaton Street to the north, Papanui Road to the east, Harper and Bealey Avenues to the south and Rossall Sreet to the west, although Real Estate advertising...
, St. John's Anglican church in Latimer Square, and the Rugby Street Methodist church.
The city's Repertory Theatre, on Kilmore Street in the central city, was reported to be extensively damaged and may be beyond repair, however the Repertory Theatre website notes "Beneath the rubble the lower façade is intact with not even a broken window. Further into the theatre everything was undisturbed; the auditorium, stage area, fly tower and dressing rooms intact. The historic proscenium undamaged."
Several notable buildings in the Timaru
Timaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
area, 160 kilometres (99.4 mi) southwest of Christchurch, were also badly affected. A pinnacle on the tower of St Mary's Anglican Church tower fell to the ground, and the recently restored tower itself sustained "significant cracking". The spire of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Temuka
Temuka
Temuka is a town on New Zealand's Canterbury Plains, 15 kilometres north of Timaru and 142 km south of Christchurch. It is located at the centre of a rich sheep and dairy farming region, for which it is a service town.-History:...
was also shifted 10 centimetres (4 in) by the earthquake, leaving it precariously balanced, and the town's historic Royal Hotel was also damaged.
Heritage experts urged building owners not to hastily demolish their buildings. The mayor warned of significant penalties for demolishing buildings without consent, and launched a fund to help repair historic buildings damaged by the quake. The Government allocated NZ$10 million towards restoration of such buildings a few days later.
Liquefaction
A feature of the quake was the damage caused by soil liquefactionSoil liquefaction
Soil liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid....
. This was particularly the case in the riverside areas of Avonside
Avonside
Avonside is an eastern suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest suburbs of the city, with only Heathcote being older.-History:...
, Dallington
Dallington, New Zealand
Dallington is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, on the north-east side of the city.It is bounded mainly by the Avon river, stretching in a circular area from the intersection of Gayhurst Road, Dallington Terrace and Locksley Avenue along to New Brighton Road, North Parade and Banks Avenue...
, Burwood
Burwood, New Zealand
Burwood is a north-eastern suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. The suburb is mostly a residential area and is centred around Burwood Hospital, Travis Wetland Nature Heritage Park and Bottle Lake Forest...
, Avondale
Avondale, Canterbury
Avondale is a suburb of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located northeast of the city centre, and is close to the Avon River, four kilometres to the northwest of its estuary...
, and Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi
Kaiapoi is a town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, located close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River, and approximately 17 kilometres north of Christchurch....
, and in river delta areas near Bexley
Bexley, New Zealand
The suburb of Bexley is situated in Christchurch East on the west bank of the Avon River approximately one kilometre from the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. It is enclosed within a bend in the Avon River and the suburb of Aranui....
, Brooklands
Brooklands, Canterbury
Brooklands is the northernmost suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. The settlement was built on former swamp land adjacent to Brooklands Lagoon, which forms part of the Waimakariri River mouth...
, Spencerville
Spencerville, New Zealand
Spencerville is a semi-rural town on the east coast of Canterbury, New Zealand north of Christchurch. The town backs on to Bottle Lake Forest and includes a large park and 80 hectare camping ground...
, Pines Beach, and Kairaki with other areas being affected to a substantially lesser degree or not at all. Damage from liquefaction may have been worsened by the high water table from a wet winter.
Liquefaction can also cause buried pipes to float up to the surface. This has caused problems for the gravity-fed sewer system, which may need to be completely rebuilt in some areas.
While the problem had long been well understood by planners, it is not clear that the public understood it as well, or that it widely influenced development, buying or building decisions. Liquefaction risk at the Pegasus Town
Pegasus Town
Pegasus Town is a new town being constructed 25 km north of Christchurch, New Zealand, close to the town of Woodend.It is named for the nearby Pegasus Bay. The project was proposed in 1997 by Southern Capital and was being developed by Infinity Investment Group and Multiplex Living. However,...
site was identified in 2005, so the developers spent approximately $20 million on soil compaction, and the ground there held firm during the quake.
Relative lack of casualties
The media have remarked on the lack of casualties, despite the close parallels of the quake to incidents that have had devastating consequences in other countries, such as the 1989 San Francisco Quake, that killed 63 people and was magnitude 7.1 also.The analysis especially compared the Canterbury quake with the 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
, which also occurred in similar proximity to an urban area, also occurred at shallow depth under the surface, and was of very similar strength. Unlike many tens of thousands of deaths in Haiti (with some estimates placing the death toll at one in ten or higher), no deaths directly attributable to the earthquake were reported in New Zealand. This was ascribed to the fact that the quake happened in the early hours of a Saturday morning, when most people were asleep in timber framed homes
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
, and "...there would almost certainly have been many deaths and serious injuries had it happened during a busy time of the day...". Another important factor was building practices which took earthquakes into account, starting after the 1848 Marlborough earthquake
1848 Marlborough earthquake
The 1848 Marlborough earthquake is the name associated with a severe earthquake which occurred at 1:40 a.m. on 16 October 1848 and whose epicenter was in the Marlborough region of the South Island of New Zealand....
and the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake
1855 Wairarapa earthquake
The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on 23 January at about 9 p.m. In Wellington, close to the epicenter, shaking lasted for at least 50 seconds. The magnitude of the earthquake is estimated to have been in the range 8.1-8.3, the most powerful recorded in New Zealand since systematic European...
, both of which badly affected Wellington. These led to formal standards after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47 am on Tuesday 3 February 1931, killing 256 and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster...
, which have since been progressively updated. By contrast, Haiti's much lower standard codes were poorly enforced and many buildings were made of hand-made non-reinforced concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
, which is extremely vulnerable to seismic damage. Ground shaking in populated areas of Canterbury was also generally less strong than for the Haiti quake.
Emergency response and relief efforts
Christchurch's emergency services managed the early stages of the emergency as the Civil Defence organisation was activated. The St John Ambulance service had sixteen ambulances operational within half an hour of the earthquake and received almost 700 calls within the first 6 hours.Police promptly arrested a couple of opportunists who had broken into a liquor store shortly after the quake and attempted to take alcohol. Police emphasised this was only an isolated incident. The alleged offenders subsequently appeared in Court on burglary and theft charges in connection with the looting.
A state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
was declared for Christchurch at on 4 September, and the city's central business district was closed to the general public. A curfew was put in place from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am for parts of the central business district. The New Zealand Army
New Zealand Army
The New Zealand Army , is the land component of the New Zealand Defence Force and comprises around 4,500 Regular Force personnel, 2,000 Territorial Force personnel and 500 civilians. Formerly the New Zealand Military Forces, the current name was adopted around 1946...
was deployed to help the police enforce the closure and curfew.
Civil Defence also declared a state of emergency for Selwyn District and Waimakariri District. The National Crisis Management Centre in the basement of the Beehive
Beehive (building)
The Beehive is the common name for the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings, located at the corner of Molesworth Street and Lambton Quay, Wellington...
in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
was activated, while Selwyn District, Waimakariri and Timaru
Timaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
activated their emergency operation centres.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
C-130 Hercules plane brought 42 urban search and rescue personnel and three sniffer dogs from the North Island to Christchurch the day of the quake, to help check for people buried in the rubble and determine which buildings are safe to use. There were a large number of police and engineers present in the disaster areas. The New Zealand Army
New Zealand Army
The New Zealand Army , is the land component of the New Zealand Defence Force and comprises around 4,500 Regular Force personnel, 2,000 Territorial Force personnel and 500 civilians. Formerly the New Zealand Military Forces, the current name was adopted around 1946...
deployed personnel upon the request of the Christchurch mayor. Eighty police officers from Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
were dispatched to Christchurch to assist with general duties there.
The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has contacted the New Zealand government and offered its assistance, and is being informed and kept up to date about the situation. The United States military offered to send help from Hawaii; local authorities expressed gratitude for the offer, but turn it down saying they had matters under control. The Queen asked the Prime Minister to send her good wishes to the people affected by and helping recover from the quake.
Prime Minister
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
John Key
John Key
John Phillip Key is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, in office since 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006....
, who was raised in Christchurch, visited the scene of the devastation within hours of the earthquake. Christchurch mayor Bob Parker requested that the Prime Minister order the deployment of the New Zealand Army to keep stability and to assist in searches when possible within Christchurch, and the Prime Minister stated that the Army was on standby. New Zealand's Earthquake Commission
Earthquake Commission
The Earthquake Commission provides primary natural disaster insurance to the owners of residential properties in New Zealand. The Government-owned Crown entity manages assets of $5.93 billion NZD...
, which provides government natural disaster insurance, will be assisting by paying out on claims from residential property owners for damage caused by the earthquake. On 7 September, John Key appointed Cabinet Minister, Leader of the House
Leader of the House
There are several offices titled Leader of the House:* Leader of the House in the Australian Parliament* Leader of the House in the Parliament of Singapore* Leader of the House in the Parliament of Sri Lanka...
and MP for the Christchurch electorate of Ilam Gerry Brownlee
Gerry Brownlee
Gerard Anthony "Gerry" Brownlee is a New Zealand politician. He served from 17 November 2003 to 27 November 2006 as deputy-leader of the National Party – during that period the second-largest party in the New Zealand Parliament, and thus forming the core of the Opposition...
as the Minister for Earthquake Recovery to oversee the response to the earthquake.
'Welfare centres' were set up with the help of Red Cross
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
, The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
and St. John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance
St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
at Burnside High School
Burnside High School
Burnside High School is the second largest high school in New Zealand with over 2600 students, and is located in the suburb of Burnside in Christchurch, New Zealand.-History:...
, Linwood College
Linwood College (New Zealand)
Linwood College is a co-educational decile 2 secondary school in Linwood, a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand.-History:Founded in the early 1950s, to cater for the secondary educational needs of a growing population in eastern Christchurch, then Linwood High School became one of New Zealand's...
and Addington Raceway
Addington Raceway
Addington Raceway or The Met is the home of the Metropolitan Trotting Club in Addington, Christchurch in New Zealand. The venue consists of a trotting track, a greyhound track conference centre and restaurants...
, where over 244 people slept on the night after the quake. Tankers
Tank truck
A tank truck or road tanker is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquefied loads, dry bulk cargo or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars which are also designed to carry liquefied loads...
delivered drinking water to the welfare centres.
A joint mayoral relief fund has been established by Selwyn District Council, Christchurch City Council and Waimakariri District Council, to which the government has initially given NZ$5 million. The Red Cross and Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
have also appealed for donations to fund their own efforts.
Under the National-led Government
Fifth National Government of New Zealand
The Fifth National Government of New Zealand is the current government of New Zealand. It is led by Prime Minister John Key.After the 2008 general election the National Party and its allies were able to form a government, taking over from Helen Clark's Fifth Labour Government. The National party...
the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act
Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010
The Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010 was a New Zealand statute designed to assist reconstruction after the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. It expires in April 2012....
was drafted and passed to assist reconstruction. The Act permits Government ministers to suspend almost any New Zealand law and attracted criticism from New Zealand and international academics specialising in constitutional law, who claim that it lacks constitutional safeguards and has set a dangerous precedent for future natural disasters.
The response to the earthquake was praised by most citizens with 94% saying that Civil Defence had performed well and 90% saying the City Council had performed well.
The earthquake occurred five weeks to the day before the Christchurch local elections. Following the earthquake, the polls for the mayoral election
Christchurch mayoral election, 2010
The Christchurch mayoral election, 2010 is part of the New Zealand local elections, 2010. On 9 October 2010, elections were held for the Mayor of Christchurch plus other local government roles...
swung from favourite Jim Anderton
Jim Anderton
James Patrick Anderton, usually known as Jim Anderton , is the leader of the Progressive Party, a New Zealand political party. He has served in Parliament since 1984. He served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 and is currently also the sitting Father of the House, the longest...
to incumbent Bob Parker. Parker went on to win the 9 October election with a majority 53.7% of the vote.
A benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
, Band Together
Band Together
Band Together was a musical concert put on for the people of Canterbury, New Zealand as a response to the 2010 Canterbury earthquake which had occurred a month earlier...
, was held on 23 October 2010 at Hagley Park
Hagley Park
Hagley Park is the largest urban open space in Christchurch, New Zealand, and was created in 1855 by the Provincial Government. According to the government's decree at that time, Hagley Park is "reserved forever as a public park, and shall be open for the recreation and enjoyment of the public."...
.
Media coverage
The earthquake was reported by local, national and international news media. It made headlines in The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, NDTV
NDTV
NDTV is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India...
, Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, France 24
France 24
France 24 is an international news and current affairs television channel. The service is aimed at the overseas market, similar to BBC World News, DW-TV, NHK World and RT, and broadcast through satellite and cable operators throughout the world. During 2010 the channel started broadcasting through...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, and the Chilean news agency Pichilemu News
Pichilemu News
Pichilemu News, or PichilemuNews.cl is a Chilean online newspaper based on Pichilemu. It was founded by Washington Saldías, former Councillor of Pichilemu, on January 14, 2000 as a sequel to Periódico Pichilemu .- History :Pichilemu News was founded on January 14, 2000 by Washington Saldías, former...
, among others.
While the earthquake quickly became the only subject on talkback radio, other early coverage relied on comments from Police and other 24-hour services who were immediately affected and needed to communicate with the media. Because the earthquake occurred early on a Saturday morning, with only overnight staff on duty, it took several hours for some media outlets to give the event full live coverage. So it took until mid-morning for some media outlets to have sufficient stories and staff on duty to allow them to commence continuous live broadcasts. One television producer later observed that if the earthquake had happened just a few hours earlier, or later, they would have had a full studio crew on duty and have been able to go live immediately.
TV One simulcast hourly TVNZ 7 bulletins from 06:00 with details of the disaster, phone reports from Vicki Wilkinson-Baker, and phone interviews with Civil Defence officials. A One News special with a hosted by Miriama Kamo interrupted normal programming from 10:00-18:00 Saturday, an extended 90 minute One News at 6pm was hosted by Simon Dallow
Simon Dallow
Simon Dallow is a New Zealand journalist, Barrister and a television personality.-Early Years:Dallow was educated at Liston College and St Peter's College. He completed his tertiary education at Auckland University, where he studied law...
in Christchurch and Bernadine Oliver-Kerby
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby 16 June 1971 is a broadcaster currently presenting the weekend bulletins of ONE News and newsreader for Newstalk Zb's Mike Hosking Breakfast.....
in the Auckland studio, Oliver-Kerby hosted hourly updates through the evening, Paul Holmes
Paul Holmes (broadcaster)
Paul Holmes CNZM is a radio and television broadcaster in New Zealand. he hosts Q+A on TV ONE, and the Saturday morning radio show on Newstalk ZB, where for 23 years until December 2008 he hosted the weekday breakfast show, the long-standing number one rating breakfast show...
updated the story on an extended 90 minute Q&A on Sunday morning at 09:00 and Oliver-Kerby hosted a special One News at Midday bulletin on Sunday afternoon.
Radio New Zealand National interrupted some normal programming to broadcast Morning Report Saturday, Midday Report Saturday, Checkpoint Saturday and Morning Report Sunday with interviews and reports of developments.
See also
- February 2011 Christchurch earthquake
- June 2011 Christchurch earthquakeJune 2011 Christchurch earthquakeThe June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.3 ML earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST . It was centred at a depth of 6.0 km , about 13 km from Christchurch, which had previously been devastated by the February 2011 magnitude 6.3 ML earthquake...
- Geology of the Canterbury Region
- List of earthquakes in New Zealand
External links
- Google Maps: A publicly editable map of earthquake damage in Canterbury
- Help Canterbury: Listing of special offers for those recovering from the Earthquake
- canterburyearthquake.govt.nz: information from government agencies and other sources
- Canterbury earthquake (on GNS ScienceGNS ScienceGNS Science is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. It focuses on geology, geophysics , and nuclear science ....
website). - Time-lapse animation of the aftershocks
- News coverage from stuff.co.nz, The New Zealand Herald, Radio New Zealand, and 3 News
- Satellite radar results
- EQC Stage I Geotechnical report