Christchurch Earthquake

On Saturday September 4th 2010, sleeping residents of Christchurch New Zealand were awakened by a massive earthquake.

At precisely 4.35 am in the morning the earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale struck with the epicentre just north of the city at Darfield where a massive fault line opened up the road.

It was a miracle that there were no fatalities. Many residents however suffered serious injuries and damage to property was extensive. Fire broke out in one city building as a result of the earthquake, but the fire was quickly brought under control.

After shocks were still continuing days afterwards.

How did this great city cope with such a disaster?

Immediately, although power and water supplies were cut and the mobile phone network went into overload, Civil Defence and Mayor Bob Parker swung into action. The community supported each other, checking on neighbours and helping where needed.

The central city blocks were cordoned off, and teams of engineers set about assessing each building and rating the safety of each. Many needed immediate demolition which was quite heartbreaking for owners.

Power was restored to about ninety percent of homes by the end of the first day but restoring water took many days more as the earthquake had damaged water mains and these needed major repairs. To avoid drinking contaminated water residents were told to boil their drinking water or to add 3 drops of household bleach to a litre of water.

Government agencies contacted by phone or in person every elderly person over 65 to check on their welfare while those families with condemned or destroyed homes were housed in centres set up in school halls. Schools were closed for a week and public transport only retumed after 3 days.

There were many lucky escape stories to emerge and valuable lessons for future earthquakes were learnt. Photos of the Christchurch earthquake record the damage and the human faces of those affected.

It is important to keep civil emergency supplies in your homes but do make sure that you keep a torch by your bed. Not having a torch to reach for when the earthquake struck was regretted by many Christchurch earthquake affected residents!

Christchurch Earthquake

By: Toni

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