Christchurch Earthquakes 2010-11

On 4 September 2010 at 4:35am a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Christchurch, New Zealand region, causing massive damages to public and private properties, roads, infrastructure and a feeling of mass panic. Christchurch is considered the third-largest metropolitan centre in New Zealand after Wellington, but depending on the determination of political boundaries, some in the news media labelled it the second-largest. Its total greater population is just shy of 400,000. The event was named the Darfield Earthquake, as it was centred on the outskirts town of Darfield, forty kilometres west of the CBD. There were no fatalities directly linked to the quake, although one elderly person died of a heart attack, and there were two serious injuries. However there were recorded approximately one-hundred minor injuries. Depth of the Darfield Quake was ten kilometres, which is considered quite shallow, and this is the reason why the property damage was widespread and massive. The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has valued the costs to be in excess of $4billion, which was quoted to Treasury. Water was contaminated, power was disrupted, there were gas leaks, and one of the biggest problems was widespread liquefaction, in the CBD and throughout the large suburban area of the metropolis. Liquefaction, which involves the earth itself becoming de-solidified, was the cause of many houses’ foundations cracking, as well as roadways breaking up.

As well as many notable public buildings being extensively damaged in the city-centre, those in Banks Peninsula, Lyttleton, Horata and even as far south as Timaru experienced major damage. Some buildings had to be held up with props, such as the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church (which was later completely destroyed in the February 11, 2011 aftershock). Godfrey House (Banks Peninsula), the seven-storey Manchester Courts and the Repertory Theatre suffered extensive damage. The former ended up practically in ruins, whilst the latter had its façade almost annihilated. The Darfield Earthquake involved massive property damage, a state of emergency and widespread panic, but thankfully no one died.

This earthquake was followed by thousands of aftershocks, as is normal with a major earthquake, none of which were newsworthy, but this all changed almost six months later, on 22 February 2011. 185 people lost their lives. At 12:51pm, epicentre two kilometres west of Lyttleton, ten kilometres southeast of the city centre, the largest aftershock to the September event, struck. Magnitude 6.3 on the Richter Scale, which was smaller than the September 2010 event, but only half the depth at five kilometres down, this quake not only destroyed myriad buildings, including large ones and even skyscrapers, it killed 185 people, making it one of New Zealand’s largest peacetime tragedies.

The key areas of deaths were:

1.       115 people in the CTV Building

2.       29 people in PGC House

3.       Grand Chancellor Hotel

4.       Other central-city buildings and shops

The (Canterbury TV) CTV building involved a school of English for young people from Asia and Saudi Arabia, and this was the location of most of the fatalities in the structure. Most were from Japan and China. The total deaths were approximately one-hundred Christchurch residents, about 90 per cent from Christchurch metropolitan area, the other ten per cent from Waimakariri and Selwyn. Only one New Zealander not residing in Christchurch or Lyttleton died: from Wellington. There was hope that survivors would be pulled from the wreckage, but only one eventuated. On the upside, it was initially feared that up to twenty-two perished in the Christchurch Cathedral, but after an extensive search it was determined that no one had died inside it.

Almost half of the three-thousands buildings contained within the CBD became safety issues, and out of these one-quarter were expected to be demolished. Of structures in excess of five storeys, as of time of writing (July 2012), over half – over 100- have been or are being demolished. The iconic Christchurch Cathedral lost its spire, no fatalities occurred there. The six-storey Canterbury Television (CTV) building collapsed in full and contained many students of English from mostly Asia, but also the Middle East. Over 115 people lost their lives in this building alone. This was the main area of death in the quake. The four-storey Pyne Gould Corporation building – PGC House- also totally collapsed and twenty-nine persons perished there. The largest building, the Grand Chancellor Hotel, a 26-storey skyscraper was irreparably damaged on 22 February, and stood on a precarious angle for quite some time. It was feared to collapse, and by May 2012 was totally demolished.

Other buildings severely damaged were the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, the historic Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings- the Stone Chamber completely collapsed- and many other government buildings, churches and historic structures.

Why this earthquake was so deadly compared to the September event:

1.       Epicentre was much closer to Christchurch’s city-centre and right in the heart of the metropolitan area, whereas September one was forty kilometres out

2.       Depth was twice as close to the surface at five kilometres, cf. ten for previous one

3.       Earthquake occurred at lunchtime, where there were many office workers, retail workers and shoppers around

4.       Many structures were already considerably weakened by the effects of the September quake

5.       Liquefaction was even greater than after the previous quake

The Key Government’s response was immediate and swift, and a number of countries assisted with the Search-and-Rescue effort. These were Australia- New South Wales, followed by Queensland, Japan, UK, China, America (California), Singapore and Taiwan.

There have been many aftershocks after this catastrophic event, the most notable of which was in December 2011. Despite Wellington being regularly cited as the most likely location of a major earthquake, due to its location on the fault line, and the fact that it is well-overdue for a major event, it was Christchurch; hundreds of kilometres away that has copped the “Big Ones”. Kiwis have always been a close-knit people, and without exception, they banded together to provide financial and emotional support, as well as support in the form of food, clothing and medical provisions to their Christchurch neighbours. Although badly dented, physically and emotionally, the New Zealand Government, future governments, and all New Zealanders will aid in the rebuilding of Christchurch and Canterbury, and it will have stronger structures and more resources to cope if there is another major shock in the future.