Debra points at the beginnings of a sand volcano not long after the big earthquake.
The base of the tower on the right of this picture has sunk so that the lower course of bricks have disappeared below ground level. The sand you can see is what came bubbling up out of the ground due to liquifaction.
Can't believe how much of this rock fell off! Its looks totally different - no longer a castle. Sad but very glad that the huge rock did not hit anything on the way down!
It is hard to imagine the destruction which surrounds this area on such a beautiful clear calm sunny spring morning, It seems as if Christchuch has changed forever. I wonder how long it will take us to recover.
Rolleston/Burnham, South Island, NZ It's been a busy few weeks! Was away on geology fieldtrips all the previous two weeks, then on Saturday morning 4th September 2010 at 4.35 am we got woken in Westport to a reasonable but very long earthquake. My husband was back in Christchurch at the time and texted me saying "are you ok?". I replied, "yes!"...