A photograph looking east along the footpath along Oxford Terrace. The photograph was taken from outside 402 Oxford Terrace.
A photograph looking down the Avon River to the house at 2 Bangor Street.
A photograph of the house at 2 Bangor Street, taken from across the Avon River.
For the people of Christchurch and its wider environs of Canterbury in New Zealand, the 4th of September 2010 earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks were daunting. To then experience a more deadly earthquake five months later on the 22nd of February 2011 was, for the majority, overwhelming. A total of 185 people were killed and the earthquake and continuing aftershocks caused widespread damage to properties, especially in the central city and eastern suburbs. A growing body of literature consistently documents the negative impact of experiencing natural disasters on existing psychological disorders. As well, several studies have identified positive coping strategies which can be used in response to adversities, including reliance on spiritual and cultural beliefs as well as developing resilience and social support. The lifetime prevalence of severe mental health disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurring as a result of experiencing natural disasters in the general population is low. However, members of refugee communities who were among those affected by these earthquakes, as well as having a past history of experiencing traumatic events, were likely to have an increased vulnerability. The current study was undertaken to investigate the relevance to Canterbury refugee communities of the recent Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) draft recovery strategy for Christchurch post-earthquakes. This was accomplished by interviewing key informants who worked closely with refugee communities. These participants were drawn from different agencies in Christchurch including Refugee Resettlement Services, the Canterbury Refugee Council, CERA, and health promotion and primary healthcare organisations, in order to obtain the views of people who have comprehensive knowledge of refugee communities as well as expertise in local mainstream services. The findings from the semi-structured interviews were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis to identify common themes raised by the participants. The key informants described CERA’s draft recovery strategy as a significant document which highlighted the key aspects of recovery post disaster. Many key informants identified concerns regarding the practicality of the draft recovery strategy. For the refugee communities, some of those concerns included the short consultation period for the implementation phase of the draft recovery strategy, and issues surrounding communication and collaboration between refugee agencies involved in the recovery. This study draws attention to the importance of communication and collaboration during recovery, especially in the social reconstruction phase following a disaster, for all citizens but most especially for refugee communities.
Digital 'basket' for collecting the community's stories, photos, and experiences of the Canterbury earthquake on Sept. 4, 2010, and the Christchurch earthquake on February 22, 2011.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 28 February 2011 entitled, "Avon Loop - inside the Christchurch cordon".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 7 September 2010 entitled, "Sleepless in Seismicland".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 13 September 2010 entitled, "A Week of Wonders".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 2 July 2012 entitled, "Walking on Worcester".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 22 February 2012 entitled, "Loss of Lives, Livelihood and Living".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 10 April 2011 entitled, "Day 48 - Foraging and Fences".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 6 June 2011 entitled, "Circumnavigating the City".
A photograph of an architectural detail above a window of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace.
A photograph taken inside Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. Broken furniture and rubbish litter the ground.
A photograph taken inside Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. Broken furniture and rubbish litter the ground.
A news item titled, "Godley House Farewell", published on the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre's website on Thursday, 29 September 2011.
The UC CEISMIC Canterbury Earthquakes Digital Archive was built following the devastating earthquakes that hit the Canterbury region in the South Island of New Zealand from 2010 – 2012. 185 people were killed in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake of February 22nd 2011, thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed, and the local community endured over 10,000 aftershocks. The program aims to document and protect the social, cultural, and intellectual legacy of the Canterbury community for the purposes of memorialization and enabling research. The nationally federated archive currently stores 75,000 items, ranging from audio and video interviews to images and official reports. Tens of thousands more items await ingestion. Significant lessons have been learned about data integration in post-disaster contexts, including but not limited to technical architecture, governance, ingestion process, and human ethics. The archive represents a model for future resilience-oriented data integration and preservation products.
This analysis employs both qualitative and quantitative approaches to identify how young adults in New Zealand aged 18-25 years old have engaged with All Right? campaign material. A survey targeting young adults returned 51 viable out of 117 responses due to participation prerequisites. From the survey, five participants elaborated on their thoughts in an in-depth interview voluntarily. Interviews were conducted with key personnel from All Right? to craft broader understanding of the initiative whilst enhancing knowledge of mental health frameworks and their application. Ciaran Fox, Lucy Daeth and Sara Epperson, who have been imperative to the success of the campaign, shared their working experience in the community and public health sector and how this intertwines to their current roles at All Right?. Discussions of key frameworks, community conversations, the development of communication strategies and how All Right? approached Canterbury publics in a post-earthquake setting provided insight to the importance of understanding community circumstance in initial crisis and the correlated secondary stressors.
In this paper, we consider how religious leaders and Civil Defence authorities might collaborate to establish a two-way information conduit during the aftermath of a disaster. Using surveys and in-person interviews, clergy in different Christian denominations were asked about their roles in the earthquake, the needs of their congregations and the possibilities and obstacles to deeper collaboration with Civil Defence authorities.
A view after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch. Community of the Sacred Name, cnr St Asaph and Barbadoes Streets, on St Asaph St looking east
The article asks whether disasters that destroy life but leave the material infrastructure relatively intact tend to prompt communal coping focussing on loss, while disasters that destroy significant material infrastructure tend to prompt coping through restoration / re-building. After comparing memorials to New Zealand’s Christchurch earthquake and Pike River mine disasters, we outline circumstances in which collective restorative endeavour may be grassroots, organised from above, or manipulated, along with limits to effective restoration. We conclude that bereavement literature may need to take restoration more seriously, while disaster literature may need to take loss more seriously.
The Foundation facilitates community engagement and communication through their website, providing service delivery, volunteer co-ordination and service to assist with the rebuild of Christchurch and Canterbury following the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.
An initiative developed by the Christchurch City Council in which the community can share their ideas on a new vision for the future development of the central city following the Canterbury earthquakes.
Site provides information for the Christchurch suburb of Redcliffs following the Feb. 22 earthquake. Includes information on basic services, local businesses, schools and community help; online request forms for people offering or needing services.
An urban regeneration initiative which aims to temporarily fill sites left vacant after the September 4, 2010 Canterbury Earthquake and the February 22, 2011 Christchurch Earthquake with creative projects for community benefit.
A photograph of an exhibition sign next to the ChristChurch Cathedral cross. The cross was on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum.
A photograph of an exhibition sign next to the ChristChurch Cathedral bell. The bell was on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum.
A photograph of 'The Snapa Crapa', a bike with a toilet for a seat. The bike was on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum.
Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Ian Town, Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr, Prime Minister John Key, Mayor Bob Parker and and Roger Sutton from CERA at the Community Engagement Awards 2011.
Schools are an important part of any community, and two years on from the start of the earthquakes in Canterbury many are still coping with damage to classrooms, and with dramatically reduced rolls.