Most of these buildings had no damage or only a little. This is to encourage new and innovative building methods that can meet the required standards. This building looks heavy but with light structural support in the corners. Christchurch Earthquake Its is the energy being moved through the rock like a whale song in the ocean. ( Log Out / It was originally a carpark building. Though the government supplied money for those who were fired, businesses that needed re … Buildings have collapsed around Cathedral Square in downtown Christchurch. Over half of the deaths occurred in the six-storey Canterbury Television (CTV) Building, which collapsed and caught fire in the earthquake. What we do know for sure is that thousands of homes cannot be brought back to being livable. The spire of ChristChurch Cathedral has completely collapsed. the Christchurch CBD district is built on liquefaction prone soil, making it at high risk of damage from liquefaction. When the earthquake gets very severe - as in the February 22, 2011, Christchurch earthquake, everything is damaged to some extent. As for the low-lying eastern suburbs, here too it won’t be until the engineers’ reports are available that the real picture will emerge. Some places that escaped liquefaction last time have received it this time, and vice versa. [Update of 1 March: there are conflicting reports as to the date of construction. Why buildings are managed for earthquake risk Experience from Christchurch and overseas has shown that the failure of earthquake-prone buildings, or parts, can endanger lives. It was with surprise that the Drainage Board/PGC which collapsed onto the first floor, did not collapse completely. John Clague, an expert in natural hazards at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, said it was unclear what caused such serious damage to modern buildings, but said the answer could be the "liquefaction" of the ground when the shaking began. The earthquake epicentre was near Lyttelton, just 10 Commentary on agriculture, rural development, and wider issues. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. In any case, the Uni itself is being used as a base for rescue personnel. Perhaps the ground acceleration went beyond the design capacity, as there is no doubt the ground acceleration was extreme. But newer buildings were constructed in line with recently improved regulations that were expected to protect them from the worst shaking the city might encounter. In terms of magnitude, this was just a moderate earthquake, but the local effects on Christchurch have been huge because of its proximity and shallowness. So one has to ask the question, how could the tsunami have killed so many people in a country that was supposed to be the most tsunami-aware nation on Earth? Some buildings will be written off and torn down, while others will be repairable or declared safe for immediate occupation. Presumably it was built to the latest codes so as to absorb the energy without suffering structural failure. Before and after shots (below) of the seven storey CTV building (built in the 1980s) show another modern-looking building. Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Part of the answer is that the Japanese had become complacent about tsunamis and over-confident about the measures supposedly in place to protect them. Both this building and the now Hotel So were built at about the same time. 185 people from more than 20 countries died in the earthquake. Kind regards Christchurch Earthquake The reason Christchurch suffers so much damage from liquefaction is because of the soil type and soil arrangement in the region. It may have been 1979.] Why did so many buildings survive the earthquake? The December 2011 and February 2016 earthquakes were off the coast, in Pegasus Bay, but the movement on the earthquake … Post was not sent - check your email addresses! That means it pre-dated the first earthquake design requirements of the 1965 code. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. As had happened after the 4 September 2010quake, there was a lot of liquefaction. The September 2010, February 2011 and June 2011 earthquakes did not cause tsunamis because they happened on land and did not disrupt the sea floor. Other photos are sourced from Google and are currently uncredited.). This provides a reminder that the Christchurch earthquake really was a local event: short, sharp and vicious. What caused the Christchurch earthquake? This is the building where most of the deaths occurred, perhaps as many as a hundred or even more, including most of the foreign deaths at the Kings Language School. Some buildings caught fire after the February earthquake. The government declared a state of national emergency, which stayed in force until 30 April 2011. Advance Publishing Ltd, Pingback: » Blog Archive » Christchurch earthquake aftermath. Hi, with regard to the Grand Chancellor building it should never have been built. "You can't protect against everything, because it's simply too expensive. [Update: By early March some 180,000 tonnes had been trucked out.] Same conditions – credit to photographer/website. I have also looked with wonder at the simplicity of house construction in Uruguay, where earthquakes are essentially unknown. Maurice Lamontagne, a seismologist at the Geological Survey of Canada, said: "What surprised me most was not seeing the damage to masonry buildings like the cathedral's bell-tower but to see new concrete buildings crumbling down. Assistant editor, Rotary Down Under, Yes, but the credit should go to Asher Trafford. Before and after shots of the PGC building (see below) tell a story of a modern-looking building, although built in about 1963. Liquefaction happens when underground water in the soil comes to the surfac… Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The earthquake damage to modern buildings in Christchurch caught many experts by surprise and suggests the city was more prone to destructive tremors than … Meagan Jones "New Zealand has excellent earthquake standards in its building codes, but those standards were much more stringent on the Alpine fault to the west of Christchurch than in the city, where secondary faults are poorly known. It seems that we do indeed have very stringent building codes in New Zealand. The earthquake struck the Canterbury region in New Zealand's South Island and was centred 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi) south-east of the centre of Christchurch, New Zealand's second-most populous city. New Zealand is apart of the Pacific Ring of Fire. A big unknown is how many of the modern buildings that apparently survived will still have to be pulled down. This was the second major earthquake to hit the city; the previous quake occurred on 4 September 2010 and registered at a 7.1 magnitude. It is the materials used that cause the problems. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I am preparing a report on the Christchurch earthquake for Rotary Down Under magazine and I’m wondering if I might have permission to publish your image of Liquefaction on Kilmore St? ( Log Out / A significant amount of drilling of holes both in the concrete walls and floors was done. The collapse of the cathedral is less surprising. Large buildings and structures such as bridges, in particular, must be designed so that vibrations arising from earthquakes are damped and not amplified. Photograph: Christchurch Press/Reuters. A reason to why there was so much damage done was because that the land, infrastructure and roads were still either damaged or weak due to the 2010 Christchurch earthquake which had a magnitude of 7.1. many building which Even within Christchurch, location was of huge importance, but there is more to it than that. And in the days after the earthquake, it was the Japanese media who were the most persistent in asking why the building failed as it did and killed so many… In the ten minutes after it hit, there were 10 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or more. Ha, fatty. The severity of the damage appears to be due to a combination of the earthquake coming from a previously unknown fault that runs beneath the city from the nearby Alpine fault, and the violence of the shaking because the city rests on damp sediments. Although Lincoln Uni does remain closed, that is because many staff and students live in the city. The Grand Chancellor hotel was originally constructed in the mid 1980s as an office tower. Grand Chancellor Hotel with earthquake damage and tilting at 2 degrees. Unfortunately, a house with a concrete pad that has cracked and split is history. I liken it to an undergound tsunami, that travelled through the aquifer from the epicentre, and then burst upwards as it hit the underlying rocks of the Port Hills. [Update: The buildng was sold to private investors in 2009.] the frequency can be so low that you cant hear it, but your dog or your cat may hear it and freak out before the earthquake hits. It is in Cashel St, several hundred metres from the Avon River. Why and how did China markets become so important for New Zealand? Christchurch copes with a tragedy it did not see coming By Larry Greenemeier on February 22, 2011 … What is clear is that people on the upper floors had the best chance of escape, with many of those on the lower floors being crushed by the collapse of heavy concrete floors. Earthquake resistance can and is, in many cases, built into the design of the building. The Christchurch Earthquake: tectonic plates and fault lines, Understanding the Christchurch earthquake: building damage, http://ecan.govt.nz/publications/General/solid-facts-christchurch-liquefaction.pdf, » Blog Archive » Christchurch earthquake aftermath, YEAR 5 SCIENCE PROJECT-FINAL | YEAR 5 SCIENCE PROJECT, Regenerative agriculture is not redundant but can be misguided, It’s time for Fonterra to define the new path ahead, Agriculture will change but pastoral agriculture will survive and prosper, Green-lipped mussels are becoming heavy lifters, Composting mootels can transform dairy, but only if we get things right, Fonterra stabilises finances with back to basics model, selling assets and retaining profits, Coronavirus border policies need a deeper rethink, Green vegetables grow at the feet of big mountains, Big win for Fonterra from latest DIRA amendments, A resource-based perspective on immigration, Is regenerative agriculture the real deal. The September quake had occurred in the early hours of the morning with family generally close at hand. It has treated over 220 serious injuries so far, even though sometimes they were working by torchlight. Old houses and commercial buildings constructed in the early 20th century, or in some cases in the 19th century, and which relied on single or double brick for their structural integrity, disintegrated rapidly. Officials will now inspect buildings and draw up an inventory of damage. Hi Keith, These are just three of many photos taken by Asher, who jumped on his bike and took some amazing photos around the city in the immediate aftermath. However, in Christchurch we also have many old buildings which predate these regulations. The Christchurch Central Recovery Plan, often referred to as the Blueprint, is the plan developed by the Fifth National Government of New Zealand for the recovery of the Christchurch Central City from a series of earthquakes, in particular the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.. It seems to me that we still have much to learn about liquefaction. "When shaken, these sediments transform into a liquid, causing irregular settlement of the ground, which is extremely damaging to buildings and buried structures, like water lines.". Several aftershocks were reported, some registering at a 5.6 magnitude. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. On Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12.51 p.m. Christchurch was badly damaged by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, which killed 185 people and injured several thousand. Thirty-nine people lost their lives when unreinforced Even the underground fuel tanks at my local service station, filled with fuel just the day before, were thrust upwards by this force. Projects like this are rare but do happen especially if someone is determined to get their way. The critical issue with this earthquake was that the epicentre was at shallow depth under Christchurch, so many people were within 10 to 20 kilometres (6 to 12 miles) of the fault rupture. Either way, there are questions to be answered as to why the failure was so catastrophic. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Christchurch Hospital was evacuated due to damage in some areas, but soon reopened to treat the injured. Of the 185 victims, 115 people died in the Canterbury Television building alone, while another 18 died in the collapse of PGC House, and eight were killed when masonry fell on Red Bus number 702 in Colombo Street. Is the Mycoplasma bovis eradication campaign on track? On 22 February 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch shortly before 12:50pm at a shallow depth of four kilometres. And a lot of those that may be livable in the short-term, are still incapable of being permanently repaired. ", He added: "Experts have been surprised that the town itself has been hit.". Whether or not PGC were actually the building owners in 2011, or simply the major tenants with naming rights, is not clear to me. The soil is considered susceptible to liquefaction and have a very low resistance to liquefaction. In Christchurch we have been very attached to our heritage buildings, but now it is time to move forward and rebuild from the ground up. There are many puzzles as to why some of Christchurch's buildings have survived the 6.3 earthquake of February 2011, and others have not. On 22 February 2011, at 12:51 pm, Christchurch was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. I do not know who the architects were for the original construction but the engineers were Holmes Wood Poole and Johnstone. A lot will depend on whether the concrete pads have shifted, cracked, and tilted. Of all the buildings that have been affected by the earthquakes this one has demonstrated to me that looks alone are most certainly not any indication of resilience or strength. Clearly it suffered immediate damage, but it was only some hours later that it began to tilt. Liquefaction on Kilmore St ( Asher Trafford), Liquefaction in park off Colombo St (Asher Trafford). Hopefully in future Christchurch will see a much better standard of design, something with more creative flare, and a big step away from brutalism. Where the shaking or ground movement was severe, then houses on piles seemed to fare somewhat better than those on concrete pads. This core is still visible in the ‘after’ photo. The codes focus on the standards that have to be met, rather than specifying precise building procedures. It was been done at the time when the Americas Cup parade was held in CHCH. Across the suburb, the silt and sand laden water continued to flow from some of the boils for several hours afterwards. Over on the eastern hills of Sumner, Redcliffs, and Mt Pleasant , it seems the shaking of the ground was so extreme that no practical building code could have saved many of the houses. Architects and engineers sometimes do get it wrong, the ugly towers at Ferrymead are testiment to that, no matter how clever people think they are some projects should just not be done regardless of reputation and influence. Damage to buried pipes allowed sewage to enter the water so people had to boil their tap water. The original building codes go back to 1935, but earthquake design really only started in 1965. Pingback: Rebuilding Christchurch | PHSGeogBlog. As for the brick chimneys on the older wooden houses, well they descended ungracefully to the ground. 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A M6.3 earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand on 22 February (21 Feb in UTC), leaving at least 75 people dead and hundreds injured or missing. Change ). Also, both in September 2010 and again in February 2011, there has been some liquefaction in areas previously identified as low risk. Semi official reports coming through are suggesting more than 500 buildings in the CBD will have to go. Most Cantabrians were away from their homes when the 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck at 12.51 p.m. on 22 February 2011. Earlier today I was out at Lincoln Uni, only 20 km from the city centre, and there the damage is minimal. Why Was New Zealand's Latest Earthquake So Deadly? Modern design is not supposed to mean there will be no damage, but it is meant to prevent catastrophic failure that causes death. Most of the houses have timber framing and this has stood up well. 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