big earthquake in New Zealand

LukeA · #1 02-21-2011, 09:23 PM

Centered near Christchurch.

Please check in with us when you can, Brandon.

HejiraNYC · #2 02-21-2011, 09:31 PM

OMG, Christchurch Cathedral collapsed.

I once stayed across from the cathedral... lovely area. I hope everyone is okay.

louielouie2000 · #3 02-21-2011, 09:40 PM

I thought of Brandon immediately when I read about the quake as well... but he's on the North island and the quake rocked the South island. So hopefully he's okay!

WildHearted · #4 02-21-2011, 09:43 PM

I hope and pray everyone is okay.

David · #5 02-21-2011, 09:52 PM

Preliminary magnitude of 6.3, says USGS.

A very shallow quake--5 km.

Offshore, too. Does that mean it generated any tsunami action in the near field?

**mylittledemon** · #6 02-21-2011, 11:11 PM

all is well here in Wellington... It's very sad, though, as the Christchurch area has been plagued by quakes and aftershocks for the past 12 months... Just when they were getting back up on their feet, this quake has knocked them down again... and this time there are a large number of deaths (which there werent about a year ago when that last major one hit).

DavidMn · #7 02-21-2011, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

all is well here in Wellington... It's very sad, though, as the Christchurch area has been plagued by quakes and aftershocks for the past 12 months... Just when they were getting back up on their feet, this quake has knocked them down again... and this time there are a large number of deaths (which there werent about a year ago when that last major one hit).

First, thank god youre ok.

the other thing I wanted to ask you is how big a city is Christchurch?

estranged4life · #8 02-21-2011, 11:20 PM

you're alright.

**mylittledemon** · #9 02-22-2011, 12:17 AM

Christchurch is a big place. I think it's the 3rd largest city in NZ...

The last big quake... no one died... this time around there are reports that 20 people are confirmed dead, and they're still digging out people that are trapped in many of the fallen buildings.

**mylittledemon** · #10 02-22-2011, 12:30 AM

Now it's over 60 confirmed dead.

Evidently they just found a 4 storey bldg completely collapsed and full of bodies.

DavidMn · #11 02-22-2011, 12:44 AM

Ok, call me an idiot but there's eomething wrong here. a 6.3 is not a small quake by any means. However, it seems to me that the widespread damage occuring in this situation would be reserved for a much larger quake of say 7-8. I fail to understand how or why the New Zealand gov't didn't apporpriate the necessary funds to reinforce the buildings to be more quake proof.

**mylittledemon** · #12 02-22-2011, 01:31 AM

God knows. I don't think damage from acts of nature can ever be fully anticipated. I do know that a lot of the structures (including homes) here in New Zealand are shockingly poor in terms of construction.

Dodfather · #13 02-22-2011, 03:16 AM

I'm worried about a friend of mine. She has an apartment in the centre of Christchurch, havingmoved there 2 years ago. No opne hasheard anything yet because obviously communication is poor to say the least.

Meowi · #14 02-22-2011, 03:35 AM

Dodfather,
My thoughts are with you and hoping your friend is found.
Although I am an Australian - I grew up partly in New Zealand for a while, and although I lived in Auckland, I still hold a place in my heart for Aoteraroa.

DoubtfulMiracle · #15 02-22-2011, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMn

Ok, call me an idiot but there's eomething wrong here. a 6.3 is not a small quake by any means. However, it seems to me that the widespread damage occuring in this situation would be reserved for a much larger quake of say 7-8. I fail to understand how or why the New Zealand gov't didn't apporpriate the necessary funds to reinforce the buildings to be more quake proof.

I was like you David - I sat at work scratching my head about how it could be so bad at 'only' 6.3, and questioning why a place on a fault line seemingly hadn't invested in the 'earthquake-proof' technology seen in places like Japan.

I did some research, and have eaten a little bit of humble pie. Apparently the depth of the earthquake (the focus) was only 5km from the surface - not surprisingly, the shallower the earthquake is, the worse the damage on the ground. I suppose we also need to take into consideration the likelihood that buildings were already weakened by the 7.1 earthquake last September, plus the many large aftershocks since.

Still, there is no question that building reinforcement was severely lacking - this article from almost 12 months ago states that 7600 buildings in Christchurch are earthquake prone, and it would require $500 million to make them earthquake proof. Around 700 of these buildings are heritage listed, so their vulnerability is understandable, but I would also be interested to know how many of the earthquake-prone buildings were built in the last 20 years or so.

Interestingly, the article talks about earthquake-proofing occurring over the next 15 to 30 years. It's unfortunate that it now seems all a bit too little, too late.