It looks like Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island has had a very lucky escape when a 7.1 earthquake struck at 4.38am. So far there have been no reported fatalities and only two people seriously injured althouth there are lots with broken bones, etc.

There are a lot of buildings damaged, with many partially collapsing into the road. If the earthquake had struck a few hours earlier or a few hours later when the streets were full of people than the results could have been a lot, lot worse.

There are lots of pictures and more detail at:

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Things like buildings can be replaced, people can't.

Glad you are OK!  Watching to see what is happening. 

Jerry

Glad to hear the news is good. 7.2 is a big shake.

Damn a 7.2 is huge! Glad to hear thus far it's good news.

Joe.....a southern California boy who KNOWS his earthquakes!

Yikes! What a mess. Thanks for the link.

Glad you're all right.

Charlie

Glad to hear you're okay.  Hoping more of our NZ members check in soon.

That's a nasty one.

Best wishes,

George

It's incredible looking at the damage, with parts of central Christchurch looking more like a set on a war movie. But the most amazing thing is that there were no fatalities and only two serious injuries reported. For an earthquake of this size, a shallow earthquake (7 miles) with an epicentre under 20 miles from a city of about 400,000 people it is a huge escape.

However about 20% of houses are uninhabitable, 5% of commercial buildings are badly damaged, 33% of people are without water, 10% without power (it's the end of winter and it gets pretty cold).

For other NZ members in the area they might not be able to check in as there are problems with phone lines, internet access, etc.

The only fatalities in the area was when a sightseeing / skydiving plane crashed on take-off about 50 miles away killing 9 people, which is NZ's worst plane crash in over 15 years.

For the faults in the South Island there has been a 7.5 - 8 earthquake every 300 years and it's been over 300 years since the last one, so the predictions are that it's pretty likely there will be a much bigger one in the next 50 years. When that comes I doubt we'll be so lucky.

As another Californian who knows personally about earthquakes, I have to say that no fatalities from a 7.1 is amazing.!!!!!

After clicking on your links I started doing some research on your country because I know very little of New Zealand.  Wow...I am amazed at how beautiful it is, the culture and history behind it, very little crime, and the diversity.  You live in a wonderful place Mike.

Linda

I have never been in an earthquake and do not have intentions of going to places where the ground shakes.

BUT, since you've had your 300 year *shake*, I'd love to visit the country, it's a photographers dream.

Hey Mike,

So pleased to hear that you are ok!!  Saw some photos in the paper - unbelievable.  We've just had a weekend of flooding over here (Vic) crazy stuff.

Take it easy,

Kate 

It's ironic that I live in a country that gets over 14,000 earthquakes a year but the biggest I've personally experienced (so far) was in Wales in 1984, which was the largest one ever recorded in the UK at a mere 5.4.

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Bonus points go to anyone who can pronounce the location correctly, which was the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales.

And if anyone has any questions about New Zealand, just ask. Although I'd suggest avoiding the Christchurch area for a while at least unless you have a hobby around earthquakes! However there are some amazing places to see and things to do around the rest of the country.

So, being lazy and not wanting to look up a map *blush* where is Balclutha in relation to Christchurch?

I have a friend lives there, I also have family living in NZ and AU but not certain of current addresses.

Cat

Damn, another place off the retirement destinations list.

Glad all is reasonably well.

catlind wrote on Sep 5^th, 2010 at 7:55am:

So, being lazy and not wanting to look up a map *blush* where is Balclutha in relation to Christchurch? I have a friend lives there, I also have family living in NZ and AU but not certain of current addresses.

Balclutha is near the south west corner of the South Island and Christchurch if on the west coast of the South Island about half way down. The distance between them is about 250 miles so they will have felt the earthquake, but it will have been reduced in intensity at that distance and is unlikely to have caused any damage.


Mosaicwench wrote on Sep 5^th, 2010 at 9:10am:

Damn, another place off the retirement destinations list.

The area will be good as new within a few years and it will benefit from a lot of spending with the older buildings and infrastructure that was damaged being replaced.

And if you're in the building trade it will be a place where you'll have work coming out of your ears for quite some time!

I read from your links there were sizeable aftershocks, also.

from NZ Herald link:

The worst of the aftershocks, one of which was measured at 5.1, [!] were expected to be over by today.

Smaller aftershocks were likely to continue for weeks, diminishing in size and frequency.


also:

Saturday's earthquake took scientists by surprise, as it revealed a new faultline in a territory not known for seismic activity.

GNS regional geologist Simon Cox said there were several known active faults under the Canterbury Plains and in the Canterbury foothills, but this earthquake came from a previously unknown, buried faultline.

"There is no evidence at this site for previous rupture. We don't think it has ruptured often, or at all, in the last 18,000 years."

While the tremor could awaken surrounding faults, it could also relieve pressure on the earth.

Scientists will place 40 instruments near the faultline this week to determine whether stress was transferred to other faults.


and:

Dr Ristau suspected that three earthquakes occurred nearly simultaneously on Saturday. A magnitude-5.4 jolt was followed five seconds later by two larger quakes 10 seconds apart. The larger, 10km-deep one caused the earth to shift horizontally, before being thrust up vertically.

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Looks like a slight left shift pictured.






aside:

From the other "stuff" link, down the page under TRAVEL, it mentions the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, also mentioning other attractions, The Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmer's Museum.

Father of James Fenimore Cooper, William Cooper made himself an extensive realm there with the help of a lawyer named Alexander Hamilton, becoming the richest man in Otsego County and promoting development of Cooperstown while risking and gambling all to win.

Landed security was important to William and James, both favoring Jefferson's idea of agribusiness in America instead of urban industrialism.  It could be understood less than coincidental a Farmer's Museum is located there.

The scale of the damage is now being revealed from what was the stongest ever ground shaking ever recorded in NZ (although there having been stronger earthquakes) with this one producing forces 1.25 times the strength of gravity near the epicentre.

The movement resulted in a rupture on the surface 22km (13 miles) long with lateral movement of the surface of up to 4 metres.

Of the 160,000 homes in the area over 100,000 need to be repaired with many only fit to be demolished.

The people in the area were very, very lucky that despite all that nobody died.

Yikes.

This is from Bloomberg News so it has a bit of a business slant but I thought it pretty informative.

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Charlie

It's a pretty well written article.

What it doesn't mention is that in NZ we have the EarthQuake Commission (EQC - START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE) that puts a small levy on people's insurance premiums that has been building up since it was created in 1945 to provide cover for people with insurance for earthquakes. It currently has funds over over NZ$6 billion, so the estimate of NZ$2 billion will be easily covered (NZ$1 is about US$0.70).

Short term there will be a small negative impact, but in the medium to long term it is expected to be a positive impact as it will result in a significant (by NZ terms) amount of work in the building sector which has been fairly hard hit.

The Christchurch area will also benefit from a significant proportion of it's infrastructure, like roads and rail being updated and replaced.

However we are still waiting for a really big earthquake to strike, a bit like California is waiting, which if it strikes near Wellington (NZ capital) there is likely to be very significant impacts.

I hope all these posts about the earthquake isn't putting anyone off visiting New Zealand which has some of the most incredible scenery in the world to enjoy. Just search on YouTube and you'll see why I love my country and living here so much (I don't work in tourism - honest!).

Mike NZ wrote on Sep 6^th, 2010 at 7:43pm:

I hope all these posts about the earthquake isn't putting anyone off visiting New Zealand which has some of the most incredible scenery in the world to enjoy.

Heck no.  If life was unhurried enough to not pay more to fly around NZ while visiting, or to avoid being involved in congesting traffic, it's hard to imagine a better loooong train ride top to bottom and back a couple times.     :)

from Charlie's link:


Quote:

The quake comes as New Zealand, whose snowcapped peaks and verdant valleys formed the backdrop to the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy ...

Nice choice.   ;)