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Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch Earthquake. A massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake has hit Christchurch and the wider South Island, causing widespread damage, two serious injuries and power cuts to most of the city. Marsha Witehira had the bricks from the wall of her house fall onto her bed where she was sleeping. Both sides of her house have collapsed. Witehira (R) is comforted by a friend".

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This research employs a deterministic seismic risk assessment methodology to assess the potential damage and loss at meshblock level in the Christchurch CBD and Mount Pleasant primarily due to building damage caused by earthquake ground shaking. Expected losses in terms of dollar value and casualties are calculated for two earthquake scenarios. Findings are based on: (1) data describing the earthquake ground shaking and microzonation effects; (2) an inventory of buildings by value, floor area, replacement value, occupancy and age; (3) damage ratios defining the performance of buildings as a function of earthquake intensity; (4) daytime and night-time population distribution data and (5) casualty functions defining casualty risk as a function of building damage. A GIS serves as a platform for collecting, storing and analyzing the original and the derived data. It also allows for easy display of input and output data, providing a critical functionality for communication of outcomes. The results of this study suggest that economic losses due to building damage in the Christchurch CBD and Mount Pleasant will possibly be in the order of $5.6 and $35.3 million in a magnitude 8.0 Alpine fault earthquake and a magnitude 7.0 Ashley fault earthquake respectively. Damage to non-residential buildings constitutes the vast majority of the economic loss. Casualty numbers are expected to be between 0 and 10.

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

A man representing the South Island stands under an umbrella representing 'hope' to shelter from a bucketload of water representing 'misfortune'. Context - in the last year apart from the usual droughts and floods the South Island has suffered the Pike River Mine disaster on 19 November 2010 in which 29 coal miners were killed, the 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010 in which there was a lot of damage but no deaths and now on 22 February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake which has probably killed more than 200 people (at this point the number is still not known) and caused more severe damage. The reason the apparently lesser magnitude quake caused more destruction is because it was very shallow, was in the middle of the day and struck very close to the centre of the city. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

A view after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch 4 September 2010. Corner of Colombo and Byron Streets. Given a bit of a HDR process to add some of what I was "feeling" at the time.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The Canterbury earthquakes, which started with the 7.1 magnitude event on September 4, 2010, caused significant damage in the region. The September 4 earthquakes brought substantial damage to land, buildings, and infrastructure, while the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on February 22, 2011 (and its subsequent aftershocks), brought even greater property damage, but also significant loss of life in addition to the region. Thousands were injured, and 185 persons died. A national State of Emergency was declared and remained in effect until April 30, 2011. A significant number of people required immediate assistance and support to deal with loss, injury, trauma experiences, and property damages. Many had to find alternate accommodation as their houses were too damaged to stay in. Of those affected, many were already vulnerable, and others had been too traumatized by the events to effectively deal with the challenges they were faced with. A number of human service organizations in the region, from both government and non-government sectors, joined forces to be able to more effectively and efficiently help those in need. This was the start of what would become known as the Earthquake Support Coordination Service. The aim of this report is to present an evaluation of the Earthquake Support Coordination Service and its collaborative organization, based on documentation and interviews with key stakeholders of the service. The aim is also to evaluate the service based on perspectives gathered among the clients as well as the coordinators working in the service. The final aim is to offer a reflection on the service model, and on what factors enabled the service, as well as recommendations regarding aspects of the service which may require review, and aspects which may be useful in other contexts.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

High-quality ground motion records are required for engineering applications including response history analysis, seismic hazard development, and validation of physics-based ground motion simulations. However, the determination of whether a ground motion record is high-quality is poorly handled by automation with mathematical functions and can become prohibitive if done manually. Machine learning applications are well-suited to this problem, and a previous feed-forward neural network was developed (Bellagamba et al. 2019) to determine high-quality records from small crustal events in the Canterbury and Wellington regions for simulation validation. This prior work was however limited by the omission of moderate-to-large magnitude events and those from other tectonic environments, as well as a lack of explicit determination of the minimum usable frequency of the ground motion. To address these shortcomings, an updated neural network was developed to predict the quality of ground motion records for all magnitudes and all tectonic sources—active shallow crustal, subduction intraslab, and subduction interface—in New Zealand. The predictive performance of the previous feed-forward neural network was matched by the neural network in the domain of small crustal records, and this level of predictive performance is now extended to all source magnitudes and types in New Zealand making the neural network applicable to global ground motion databases. Furthermore, the neural network provides quality and minimum usable frequency predictions for each of the three orthogonal components of a record which may then be mapped into a binary quality decision or otherwise applied as desired. This framework provides flexibility for the end user to predict high-quality records with various acceptability thresholds allowing for this neural network to be used in a range of applications.

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

Two men sit safe amongst the devastation of an earthquake surrounded by collapsed buildings and crushed cars; one has his head in his hands and the other says 'Remind me what we were all arguing about before all this'. Context - on 22 February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck in Christchurch which has probably killed more than 200 people (at this point the number is still not known) and caused very severe damage. The second man is aware of the relative unimportance of petty squabbles and differences of opinion against the enormity of the earthquake. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake jolted North Canterbury on Monday, the HMNZS Canterbury has evacuated about 640 people, 9.3 tonnes of baggage, a cat, 17 dogs. And, about 30,000 bees. But South Island beekeepers will face ongoing challenges. John Hartnell, is a Canterbury-based board member of Apiculture New Zealand.

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

A huge fist representing 'quakes', that is wearing a boxing glove, thumps a man who represents 'CHCH' (Christchurch) 'WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!' The man is knocked out. Context - Magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes rocked Christchurch again at 1pm and 2.20pm on 13th June 2011. These quakes follow the first earthquake on September 4th 2010 and the second on February 22nd 2011. (www.stuff.co.nz, 13 June 2011) Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Motoko Kakubayashi joins us from Toyko where they are also about to mark a significant anniversary. A few weeks after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit the east coast of Japan, triggering a tsunami that destroyed large parts of the coast, including damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. More than 15,000 lives were lost, more than 2000 still remain missing. In one afternoon, half a million people became homeless, and the search for family and friends at evacuation shelters began.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video capturing an aftershock from the Canterbury earthquake on 22 February 2011, 1:04pm. After the 6.3 magnitude earthquake at 12:51pm, Ben Post set up his camera on a tripod and left it running. The movement of the water in the fish tank during the quake suggests that the shaking is up and down. The camera also shows this effect; due to the lightweight material of the tripod, the camera is shaken about more than the surroundings.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Hotel Grand Chancellor on verge of collapse but still standing after the 6.3 magnitude quake hit Christchurch on 22 February 2011 because of concrete being poured into the lower floors.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Broken head-stones as a result of the magnitude 6.3 quake in Christchurch - 22 February 2011. HDR process to add the "feeling" I felt at seeing this sort of damage.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

On 4 September 2010, a magnitude Mw 7.1 earthquake struck the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. The epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Darfield area about 40 km west of the city of Christchurch. Extensive damage was inflicted to lifelines and residential houses due to widespread liquefaction and lateral spreading in areas close to major streams, rivers and wetlands throughout Christchurch and Kaiapoi. Unreinforced masonry buildings also suffered extensive damage throughout the region. Despite the severe damage to infrastructure and residential houses, fortunately, no deaths occurred and only two injuries were reported in this earthquake. From an engineering viewpoint, one may argue that the most significant aspects of the 2010 Darfield Earthquake were geotechnical in nature, with liquefaction and lateral spreading being the principal culprits for the inflicted damage. Following the earthquake, an intensive geotechnical reconnaissance was conducted to capture evidence and perishable data from this event. This paper summarizes the observations and preliminary findings from this early reconnaissance work.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The Porters Pass fault (PPF) is a prominent element of the Porters Pass-Amberley Fault Zone (PPAFZ) which forms a broad zone of active earth deformation ca 100 km long, 60-90 km west and north of Christchurch. For a distance of ca 40 km the PPF is defined by a series of discontinuous Holocene active traces between the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers. The amount of slip/event and the timing of paleoearthquakes are crucial components needed to estimate the earthquake potential of a fault. Movement was assumed to be, coseismic and was quantified by measuring displaced geomorphic features using either tape measure or surveying equipment. Clustering of offset data suggests that four to five earthquakes occurred on the PPF during the Holocene and these range between ca 5-7 m/event. Timing information was obtained from four trenches excavated across the fault and an auger adjacent to the fault. Organic samples from these sites were radiocarbon dated and used in conjunction with data from previous studies to identify the occurrence of at least four earthquakes at 8500 ± 200, 5300 ± 700, 2500 ± 200 and 1000 ± 100 years B.P. Evidence suggests that an additional event is also possible at 6200 ± 500 years B.P. The ~1000, 5300 and 6200 years B.P. paleoearthquakes were previously unrecognised, while the 500 year event previously inferred from rock-avalanche data has been discarded. The present data set produces recurrence intervals of ~2000-2500 years for the Holocene. The identification of only one Holocene PPF rupture to the west of Red Lakes indicates the presence of a segment boundary that prevents the propagation of rupture beyond this point. This is consistent with displacement data and results in slip rates of 0.5-0.7 mm/yr and 2.5-3.4 mm/yr to the west and east of Red Lakes respectively. It is possible that the nearby extensional Red Hill Fault influences PPF rupture propagation. The combination of geometric, slip rate and timing data has enabled the magnitude of prehistoric earthquakes on the PPF to be estimated. These magnitudes range from an average of between 6.9 for a fault rupture from Waimakariri River to Red Lakes, to a maximum of 7.4 that ruptures the entire length of the PPAFZ, including the full length of the PPF. These estimates are approximately consistent with previous magnitude estimates along the full length of the PPAFZ of between 7.0 and 7.5.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Edgeware Supervalue Supermarket being demolished after the 6.3 magnitude quake hit Christchurch 22 February 2011. ♥An attempt to capture the movement of the wall coming down with 3 exposure and HDR processing.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Monday marks ten years since the Christchurch earthquake shattered New Zealand's second largest city. One-hundred-and-eighty five people lost their lives when a magnitude 6.2 quake shook the city apart. David Berry was one of the first responders in the city centre as part of Urban Search and Rescue. He speaks to Corin Dann.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Prime Minister John Key, centre, visited Christchurch after its 7.1 magnitude earthquake at 04:35 Saturday morning. Mayor Bob Parker, facing at left, took him on a tour of the city which was punctuated by a fire breaking out in a building on Worcester Street".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage to St. Mary's Anglican Church Timaru resulting from 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake centred near Darfield. The last damaged spire-top is removed from the church tower, secured to the crane by St. Mary's parishioner Craig Perkins (obscured) and builder Kevin Deam".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage to St. Mary's Anglican Church Timaru resulting from 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake centred near Darfield . (L to R): Builder Kevin Deam and St. Mary's parishioner Craig Perkins are hoisted by crane to remove the last damaged spire from the church tower".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage to St. Mary's Anglican Church Timaru resulting from 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake centred near Darfield . (L to R): St. Mary's parishioner Craig Perkins and builder Kevin Deam are moved into position by crane to remove the last damaged spire from the church tower".