A photograph of a Christchurch City Council red sticker. The sticker was used by the Civil Defence after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes to indicate that a building had been inspected and that serious structural damage had been found. The sticker states that there should be no entry to the building. It also states that 'entry may result in death or injury'.
A photograph of signs on the windows of the Christchurch Art Gallery. The art gallery was used as the temporary Civil Defence headquarters after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The signs read, "Today is Thursday 3 March 2011" and "Wash your hands!". In the background, emergency management personnel and a New Zealand Fire Service truck can be seen.
A photograph of a panaroma of Christchurch with Spencer Park, Parklands Library, QEII Park, Bottle Lake Forest, Cowles Stadium, Animal Control, and the Waste Water Treatment Plant labelled. The panaroma is on the wall of the temporary Civil Defence headquarters set up at the Christchurch Art Gallery after the 4 September 2010 earthquake.
A photograph of Tim Shadbolt, Mayor of Invercargill, talking to members of Civil Defence at Cowles Stadium on Pages Road. The stadium was set up as temporary accommodation for those displaced by the 4 September 2010 earthquake. To the left, volunteers from the Wellington Emergency Management Office are working in the reception area of the stadium.
University of Canterbury staff members are escorted by Civil Defence members in order to retrieve essential items from their offices. The photographer comments, "E-learning team collect their stuff".
The entrance to 'Camp Hollywood', the American Civil Defence Force headquarters in Latimer Square. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, emergency service agencies set up their headquarters in Latimer Square.
The entrance to 'Camp Hollywood', the American Civil Defence Force headquarters in Latimer Square. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, emergency service agencies set up their headquarters in Latimer Square.
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A mobile toilet unit set up on Gloucester Street, outside the Christchurch Art Gallery. The art gallery was used as the temporary Civil Defence headquarters after the 22 February 2011 earthquakes.
University of Canterbury staff members are escorted by Civil Defence members in order to retrieve essential items from their offices. The photographer comments, "ICT network admins, Craig Miller and Aaron Eivers".
University of Canterbury staff members are escorted by Civil Defence members in order to retrieve essential items from their offices. The photographer comments, "E-learning team vacate their floor. (Blurry, sorry.)
A photograph of boxes stacked inside the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Heart-shaped notes on the fence of Burwood Primary School. The notes express appreciation for the efforts of the civil defence, fire service, volunteers and council workers from the students of Burwood Primary.
Heart-shaped notes on the fence of Burwood Primary School. The notes express appreciation for the efforts of the civil defence, fire service, volunteers and council workers from the students of Burwood Primary.
Heart-shaped notes on the fence of Burwood Primary School. The notes express appreciation for the efforts of the civil defence, fire service, volunteers and council workers from the students of Burwood Primary.
A photograph of emergency management personnel working in the Christchurch Art Gallery.
A photograph of emergency management personnel working in the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Photos from around chch on the day of the earthquake
A photograph of the photocopy template for the Christchurch City Council's yellow sticker. The sticker was used by the Civil Defence after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes to indicate that a building had been inspected and that structural damage or other safety hazards had been found. The sticker states that there should be no entry to the building, 'except on essential business'. It also states that 'earthquake aftershocks present danger' and that people who enter must do so at their own risk.
A photograph of a make-shift toilet in the Christchurch Art Gallery. A sign behind it reads, "Portaloos Department. We know that 80,000 people need loos. We have 900-1800 available or coming, We don't need to be told people need loos. Thank you. We're number one with your number twos!". Signs below this read, "Toilet Occupied", "Toilet Vacant" and, "In Tray". The Art Gallery was used as the temporary headquarters for Civil Defence after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of a temporary sign set up at the entrance to Cowles Stadium by Civil Defence. The stadium was set up as temporary accommodation for citizens displaced by the 4 September 2010 earthquake. The sign reads, "Welcome to Cowles Stadium. Earthquake affected people only - you must register with Red Cross to receive help. Other help go to Winz Office, 154 Aldwins Road, Linwood. Please, no alcohol, no drugs on site. Food and drinks only in designated areas".
University of Canterbury ICT staff members prepare to be escorted to buildings by Civil Defence members in order to retrieve computers from offices. The photographer comments, "ICT staff head out to retrieve computers from buildings".
A story submitted by Julie to the QuakeStories website.
A photograph of emergency management personnel in the foyer of the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Transcript of John's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Observations in major earthquakes have shown that rockable structures suffered less to no damage. During rocking, that is, partial and temporary footing separations, the influx of seismic energy is interrupted and thus the impact of the base excitation is reduced. Rocking causes the structure to deform more rigid like. Consequently, the structure experiences less deformation along the height and thus a lower damage potential. Although many researchers have studied the influence of rockable footings, most of these are either analytical or numerical, and only a very few structures have been built with rockable footings worldwide, for example, the chimney at Christchurch Airport and the South Rangitikei Viaduct in New Zealand. Despite these studies, a thorough and understanding is not yet available, especially with respect to experimental validations. This work is the first to investigate the rocking behaviour of bridges with different slenderness using large‐scale shake table experiments. To limit the number of influence factors, a stiff footing support and the same fixed‐base fundamental frequency of the bridges were assumed. The result shows that the girder displacement and the footing rotation of the tall bridge do not always move in phase, which cannot be observed in the short bridge. The results demonstrate the important role of slenderness in the overall responses of rockable bridges. This behaviour cannot be observed in bridges with a commonly assumed fixed base since the slenderness effect cannot be activated.
University of Canterbury staff members prepare to be escorted to their buildings by Civil Defence members in order to retrieve essential items from their offices. The photographer comments, "Susan Tull (E-learning), Leigh Davidson (MBA administrator), Bob Reed (Economics)".
A map of Christchurch with the earthquakes marked by magnitude, at the entrance to 'Camp Hollywood', the American Civil Defence Force headquarters in Latimer Square. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, emergency service agencies set up their headquarters in Latimer Square.
Transcript of Rodney Chambers's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
A blog post from US Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, David Huebner, titled, "Kia Kaha Canterbury".