
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch earthquake. Rachel Hood (Darfield) with her daughters Izra (3) and Jasmine (1) who she is putting on an aircraft and getting out of Christchurch because of the earthquakes".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch earthquake. Rachel Hood (Darfield) with her daughters Izra (3) and Jasmine (1) who she is putting on an aircraft and getting out of Christchurch because of the earthquakes".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch earthquake. Rachel Hood (Darfield) with her daughters Izra (3) and Jasmine (1) who she is putting on an aircraft and getting out of Christchurch because of the earthquakes".
The 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence was extremely damaging to structures in Christchurch and continues to have a large economic and social impact on the city and surrounding regions. In addition to strong ground shaking (Bradley and Cubrinovski 2011 SRL; Bradley 2012 SDEE), extensive liquefaction was observed, particularly in the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake and the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake (Cubrinovski et al. 2010 BNZSEE; 2011 SRL). Large observed vertical ground motion amplitudes were recorded in the events in this sequence, with vertical peak ground accelerations of over 2.2g being observed at the Heathcote Valley Primary School during the Christchurch earthquake, and numerous other vertical motions exceeding 1.0g (Bradley and Cubrinovski 2011 SRL; Bradley 2012 SDEE; Fry et al 2011 SRL). Vertical peak ground accelerations of over 1.2g were observed in the Darfield earthquake.
Ground heaving on the faultline from which the Saturday 4 September 2010 earthquake originated.
The ground literally opened up! On the previously unknown faultline along which the Saturday 4 September 2010 earthquake originated.
The ground literally opened up! On the previously unknown faultline along which the Saturday 4 September 2010 earthquake originated.
The ground literally opened up! On the previously unknown faultline along which the Saturday 4 September 2010 earthquake originated.
The ground literally opened up! On the previously unknown faultline along which the Saturday 4 September 2010 earthquake originated.
In the early morning of 4th September 2010 the region of Canterbury, New Zealand, was subjected to a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. The epicentre was located near the town of Darfield, 40 km west of the city of Christchurch. This was the country’s most damaging earthquake since the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake (GeoNet, 2010). Since 4th September 2010 the region has been subjected to thousands of aftershocks, including several more damaging events such as a magnitude 6.3 aftershock on 22nd February 2011. Although of a smaller magnitude, the earthquake on 22nd February produced peak ground accelerations in the Christchurch region three times greater than the 4th September earthquake and in some cases shaking intensities greater than twice the design level (GeoNet, 2011; IPENZ, 2011). While in September 2010 most earthquake shaking damage was limited to unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings, in February all types of buildings sustained damage. Temporary shoring and strengthening techniques applied to buildings following the Darfield earthquake were tested in February 2011. In addition, two large aftershocks occurred on 13th June 2011 (magnitudes 5.7 and 6.2), further damaging many already weakened structures. The damage to unreinforced and retrofitted clay brick masonry buildings in the 4th September 2010 Darfield earthquake has already been reported by Ingham and Griffith (2011) and Dizhur et al. (2010b). A brief review of damage from the 22nd February 2011 earthquake is presented here
One multi-coloured soft-cover book entitled 'Quake: the Big Canterbury Earthquake of 2010' with colour photographs by David Wethey and text by Ian Stuart. ‘Quake: The Big Canterbury Earthquake of 2010’ contains aerial photographs of the damage to many major heritage sites in Canterbury between Kaiapoi and Darfield after the 4 September 2010 ear...
At 4.35am on Saturday 4 September 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck near the township of Darfield in Canterbury leading to widespread damage in Christchurch and the wider central Canterbury region. Though it was reported no lives were lost, that was not entirely correct. Over 3,000 animals perished as a result of the earthquake and 99% of these deaths would have been avoidable if appropriate mitigation measures had been in place. Deaths were predominantly due to zoological vulnerability of birds in captive production farms. Other problems included lack of provision of animal welfare at evacuation centres, issues associated with multiple lost and found pet services, evacuation failure due to pet separation and stress impact on dairy herds and associated milk production. The Canterbury Earthquake has highlighted concerns over a lack of animal emergency welfare planning and capacity in New Zealand, an issue that is being progressed by the National Animal Welfare Emergency Management Group. As animal emergency management becomes better understood by emergency management and veterinary professionals, it is more likely that both sectors will have greater demands placed upon them by national guidelines and community expectations to ensure provisions are made to afford protection of animals in times of disaster. A subsequent and more devastating earthquake struck the region on Monday 22 February 2011; this article however is primarily focused on the events pertaining to the September 4 event.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Long trek: Darfield's Cameron Carter is going on a fundraising walk to Christchurch with his mum Bridget, after overcoming his fear of earthquakes".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "St Paul's Presbyterian Church on Seddon Street, Timaru, which was damaged by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake centred near Darfield on 4 September".
At Greendale Faultline on Highfield Road in mid-Canterbury, where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010 originated.
Heaving and subsidence on the faultline left scars where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Saturday 4 September 2010 originated.
The latest (but temporary) tourist attraction in mid-Canterbury! This was the previously unknown faultline where the Saturday 4 September 2010 earthquake originated.
At Greendale Faultline on Highfield Road in mid-Canterbury, where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010 originated.
At Greendale Faultline on Highfield Road in mid-Canterbury, where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010 originated.
Tension cracks at least 300 mm deep, on the previously unknown faultline from which the Saturday 4 September 2010 earthquake originated.
One oblong perspex covered 3-D model of the fault plains associated with the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake; top of the model also acts as a map overlay. Geologists continue to study the 4 September 2010 earthquake and consider it is likely to have been a complex event with several faults rupturing simultaneously. This model provides one ...
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "St. Mary's Anglican Church in Timaru is cordoned off due to the risk of falling masonry after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake centered near Darfield".
This paper provides an overview of the salient aspects of the dense array of ground motions observed in the 4 September 2010 Darfield and 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Particular attention is given to inferred physical reasons for the observed ground motions, which include: (i) source features such as forward directivity effects; (ii) The effects of the Canterbury Plains sedimentary basin on basin-generated surface waves, and waveguide effects through the region; and (iii) the importance of local site response as evidenced by observations of large long period amplification and liquefaction. The significance of vertical ground motion intensity is also examined.
Looking across the faultline where the Saturday 4 September 2010 magnitude 7.1 earthquake originated. Note how much the previously straight fence is now out of alignment.
Looking across the faultline where the Saturday 4 September 2010 magnitude 7.1 earthquake originated. Note how much the previously straight fence is now out of alignment.
The region in and around Christchurch, encompassing Christchurch city and the Selwyn and Waimakariri districts, contains more than 800 road, rail, and pedestrian bridges. Most of these bridges are reinforced concrete, symmetric, and have small to moderate spans (15–25 m). The 22 February 2011 moment magnitude (Mw) 6.2 Christchurch earthquake induced high levels of localized ground shaking (Bradley and Cubrinovski 2011, page 853 of this issue; Guidotti et al. 2011, page 767 of this issue; Smyrou et al. 2011, page 882 of this issue), with damage to bridges mainly confined to the central and eastern parts of Christchurch. Liquefaction was evident over much of this part of the city, with lateral spreading affecting bridges spanning both the Avon and Heathcote rivers.
Deborah Nation recalls visits to Homebush, the historic Deans homestead near Darfield, the wreckage of which became one of the most viewed images in the first days after the September 2010 Canterbury earthquake.
The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence began with the 4 September 2010, Mw7.1 Darfield earthquake and includes up to ten events that induced liquefaction. Most notably, widespread liquefaction was induced by the Darfield and Mw6.2 Christchurch earthquakes. The combination of well-documented liquefaction response during multiple events, densely recorded ground motions for the events, and detailed subsurface characterization provides an unprecedented opportunity to add well-documented case histories to the liquefaction database. This paper presents and applies 50 high-quality cone penetration test (CPT) liquefaction case histories to evaluate three commonly used, deterministic, CPT-based simplified liquefaction evaluation procedures. While all the procedures predicted the majority of the cases correctly, the procedure proposed by Idriss and Boulanger (2008) results in the lowest error index for the case histories analyzed, thus indicating better predictions of the observed liquefaction response.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage to St. Mary's Anglican Church Timaru resulting from 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake centred near Darfield. The church tower is seen with the damaged spire tops removed".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake in Christchurch. Homebush, one of the old Canterbury homesteads owned by the Deans family, lies not far from the Darfield epicentre and has been severely damaged".