The recent Christchurch earthquakes provide a unique opportunity to better understand the relationship between pre-disaster social fault-lines and post-disaster community fracture. As a resident of Christchurch, this paper presents some of my reflections on the social structures and systems, activities, attitudes and decisions that have helped different Canterbury ‘communities’ along their road to recovery, and highlights some issues that have, unfortunately, held us back. These reflections help answer the most crucial question asked of disaster scholarship: what can recovery agencies (including local authorities) do - both before and after disaster - to promote resilience and facilitate recovery. This paper – based on three different definitions of resilience - presents a thematic account of the social recovery landscape. I argue that ‘coping’ might best be associated with adaptive capacity, however ‘thriving’ or ‘bounce forward’ versions of resilience are a function of a community’s participative capacity.
The 22 February 2011, Mw6.2 Christchurch earthquake is the most costly earthquake to affect New Zealand, causing an estimated 181 fatalities and severely damaging thousands of residential and commercial buildings. This paper presents a summary of some of the observations made by the NSF-sponsored GEER Team regarding the geotechnical/geologic aspects of this earthquake. The Team focused on documenting the occurrence and severity of liquefaction and lateral spreading, performance of building and bridge foundations, buried pipelines and levees, and significant rockfalls and landslides. Liquefaction was pervasive and caused extensive damage to residential properties, water and wastewater networks, high-rise buildings, and bridges. Entire neighborhoods subsided, resulting in flooding that caused further damage. Additionally, liquefaction and lateral spreading resulted in damage to bridges and to stretches of levees along the Waimakariri and Kaiapoi Rivers. Rockfalls and landslides in the Port Hills damaged several homes and caused several fatalities.
The devastating magnitude M6.3 earthquake, that struck the city of Christchurch at 12:51pm on Tuesday 22 February 2011, caused widespread damage to the lifeline systems. Following the event, the Natural Hazard Research Platform (NHRP) of New Zealand funded a short-term project “Recovery of Lifelines” aiming to: 1) coordinate the provision of information to meet lifeline short-term needs; and to 2) facilitate the accessibility to lifelines of best practice engineering details, along with hazards and vulnerability information already available from the local and international scientific community. This paper aims to briefly summarise the management of the recovery process for the most affected lifelines systems, including the electric system, the road, gas, and the water and wastewater networks. Further than this, the paper intends to discuss successes and issues encountered by the “Recovery of Lifelines” NHRP project in supporting lifelines utilities.
The Hororata Highland Games are an initiative of the Hororata Community Trust. The Trust was established to support the community through fundraising activities and help the Mid-Canterbury town rebuild after the September 2010 earthquake left many facilities damaged. The inaugural Highland Games in 2011 was a huge success and this year, Trust director Mark Stewart and dozens of local volunteers have organised another tartan extravaganza.
A Burnside woman who's been helping tangata whenua has received a Christchurch Earthquake Award; The country's biggest Maori performance event is coming to Christchurch in 2015; The Ministry of Education will help fund up to 40 Te Pumaomao nation-building courses this year; One of New Zealand's most influential Maori academics is one of six recipients of Auckland University's 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards.
A video of an interview with Dave Jessep, Director of DJCA, about the company's experiences after the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. This video is part of The Press's 'Up and Running' series which showcases businesses which stayed up and running despite the challenges posed by the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
A damaged house perched on the edge of the cliffs above Sumner. The photographer comments, "This house has slowly gone over the edge since the big earthquake in Christchurch in February 2011. Subsequent earthquakes has caused the rock face to crumble more and more".
A video of an interview with Deb Riach, co-owner of Coffee Worx, about the company's experiences after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. This video is part of The Press's 'Up and Running' series, which showcases businesses which stayed up and running despite the challenges posed by the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
A large sign outside QEII stadium advertising a IPC Athletics World Championships event 21-30 January 2011. The photographer comments, "A Sunday afternoon ride to New Brighton, then back via Aranui, Wainoni, Dallington, and Richmond. Not a cheerful experience. QE2 sign. This must have still been in place on Feb 22, 2011. It advertises an athletics meet three weeks earlier".
Cobwebs and graffiti in a shower block. The photographer comments, "This was the Soccer changing rooms in Bexley Park in Christchurch. They have now been made out of bounds due to the extensive damage to the big building. The spiders must have grown awfully big though".
For many years the Heathcote-Avon estuary was the dumping ground for Christchurch's sewage. Then, in 2010, the wastewater was diverted well out to sea, via a long pipe. David Schiel from the University of Canterbury and John Zeldis from NIWA were investigating the effects of this diversion on the health of estuary when the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes happened, re-engineering both the estuary and their experiments.
The country's biggest Maori performance event is coming to Christchurch in 2015; A Burnside woman who's been helping tangata whenua has received a Christchurch Earthquake Award; The Ministry of Education will help fund up to 40 Te Pumaomao nation-building courses this year; and One of New Zealand's most influential Maori academics is one of six recipients of Auckland University's 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This photo epitomises aspects of many homes in the residential red zone. A home that used to be lovely once upon a time, and now is just a broken house, with indicators of the care once lavished upon it by the family that owned it in the rose bush still flowering by the door. Seabreeze Close, Bexley".
A digitally manipulated image of Michael Parekowhai's sculpture 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' on Madras Street. The photographer comments, "This is the work of New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai titled 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. There are two bronze pianos and a very dominant looking bronze bull on each".
A video of an interview with Martin Bell, Managing Partner at Corcoran French, about the company's experiences after the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. This video is part of The Press's 'Up and Running' series which showcases businesses which stayed up and running despite the challenges posed by the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
A video of an interview with Tony Simpson, Principal of Phillipstown School, about the technology centre at the school. This video is part of a series which looks at the innovative projects which will be lost if the Ministry of Education pushes ahead with its school closure and merger plans.
A video of an interview with Grant Ross, teacher at Branston Intermediate School, about the boys-only class he set up to encourage learning for boys. This video is part of a series which looks at the innovative projects which will be lost if the Ministry of Education pushes ahead with its school closure and merger plans.
A video of an interview with Rosey Acker, a helper at Kendal School, about the bike track that was set up at the school. This video is part of a series which looks at the innovative projects which will be lost if the Ministry of Education pushes ahead with its school closure and merger plans.
A video of an interview with Judith Bell, music teacher at Chisnallwood Intermediate School, about the school's award-winning jazz band. This video is part of a series which looks at the innovative projects which will be lost if the Ministry of Education pushes ahead with its school closure and merger plans.
A video of an interview with John Laurenson, Principal at Shirley Boys' High School, about the Government announcement of a possible merger of Shirley Boys' and Christchurch Boys' High Schools. Laurenson explains that the government has retracted this statement and that Shirley Boys' will be rebuilt. He also talks about how the announcement has upset the Shirley community.
A video of an interview with Murray Gorton, Group General Manager at Archibald Motors, about the company's experiences after the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. This video is part of The Press's 'Up and Running' series, showcasing businesses which have stayed up and running despite the challenges posed by the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
A 'sand volcano' of liquefaction silt. The photograph has been rotated 180 degrees. The photographer comments, "This could be just a horrible hole caused by liquefaction pouring out of a hole after the Christchurch earthquake in January, but turn it upside down and it becomes an outcrop on the floor of an unseen tidal estuary".
Close up of an oven element which has blown and partly melted. The photographer comments, "After the Christchurch earthquake on the 22 February we had no power for about 4 days. We finally got electricity again from the electricity companies' mobile generator the size of a big van. We turned on the oven and there was a loud vibrating hum and this was the result".
A digitally manipulated image of a poster advertising a performance in New Brighton by bands Mynor Star, Reflekshun and Loaded Victim. The photographer comments, "The Bar 25 had this night of rock on the 18 December 2011, but the earthquake on December 23 just off of the coast close by got it shut down".
A digitally manipulated photograph of a building on Poplar Lane. The photographer comments, "I felt that this building had a real Italian feel about it. It is actually in Christchurch, New Zealand. It appears on the list to be partially demolished after the Christchurch earthquake, so it might not be around for much longer".
A digitally manipulated image of a sign reading "A bit of dirt never hurt". The photographer comments, "This was a sign put up on a section of land in the Port of Lyttelton where an earthquake damaged building had been removed. The cliff at the back had collapsed down probably during the demolition process".
A digitally manipulated image of the Lawrie and Wilson Auctioneers building on Tuam Street. The photographer comments, "This building at 210 Tuam Street is still off limits after the Christchurch earthquake. It has Lawrie and Wilson Auctioneers at the top and Christchurch City Council below. In the past it had a City Photography and at a different time a Parking Unit sign".
The entrance to the West Avon building on Montreal Street. The photographer comments, "This very wonderful Art Deco heritage building in Christchurch had residents living in it until another visit from the building engineers re-re-checking for earthquake damage. Now it is fenced off and on the list for possible demolition".
Two workers inspect fuses placed in an embankment during reinforcement work. The photographer comments, "This is the reinforcing of an embankment in the port of Lyttelton, which partly collapsed in the Christchurch earthquakes. They are using the same equipment as used for blowing up rock faces to mend them".
A digitally manipulated image of an excavator. The photographer comments, "This is a huge excavator in the Christchurch CBD. It is being used to clear away the enormous amount of rubble from the buildings being demolished. It seems that nearly all the big machinery from all other the world has been needed in the clean up of the earthquake damaged buildings and utilities".