Christchurch City Councillor Ali Jones talks about what the cull of EQC staff will mean for life in the post-earthquake city.
Its now seven weeks since the February earthquake. Normality is returning to Christchurch, with most sewerage lines fixed and water no longer needing to be boiled before drinking. But that doesn't apply to everyone.
Over 6.3 million waste tyres are produced annually in New Zealand (Tyrewise, 2021), leading to socioeconomic and environmental concerns. The 2010-11 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence inflicted extensive damage to ~6,000 residential buildings, highlighting the need to improve the seismic resilience of the residential housing sector. A cost-effective and sustainable eco-rubber geotechnical seismic isolation (ERGSI) foundation system for new low-rise buildings was developed by the authors. The ERGSI system integrates a horizontal geotechnical seismic isolation (GSI) layer i.e., a deformable seismic energy dissipative filter made of granulated tyre rubber (GTR) and gravel (G) – and a flexible rubberised concrete raft footing. Geotechnical experimental and numerical investigations demonstrated the effectiveness of the ERGSI system in reducing the seismic demand at the foundation level (i.e., reduced peak ground acceleration) (Hernandez et al., 2019; Tasalloti et al., 2021). However, it is essential to ensure that the ERGSI system has minimal leaching attributes and does not result in long-term negative impacts on the environment.
An article from Army News, October 2010 titled, "Dealing with Disaster: A day in the life of one of the army's youngest medics".
A view down damaged Chancery Lane through cordon fencing. A large crack can be seen in the former Government Life building to the right.
Lyttelton-based musician Fiona Pears is putting her life back together after the Christchurch earthquake. She's written a song, called Calm After The Storm.
A freshwater biologist says a tsunami of sediment and sand caused by the Canterbury earthquakes is choking the city's riverbeds and killing aquatic life.
A pub in a church might seem unusual, but then life in Christchurch after both the September and February earthquakes has been anything but normal.
At the 2018 Word Christchurch writers' festival, Chessie Henry (and GP father Chris) discusses her family memoir We Can Make a Life with Bronywn Hayward.
Kiwi director Christopher Dudman on his television documentary The Day that Changed My Life, which features those who survived in the immediate aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake, 22 February 2011.
A year after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, Simon Morton revisits the Avon River to see how life's progressing along it and in it.
With half his life work destroyed by earthquakes, Christchurch conservator Graham Stewart is on a mission to save what is left of Canterbury's remarkable stained glass history.
By Helen Solomons Mortimer Cashman Corliss was a true Victorian patriarch, gentleman and government servant who lived in Christchurch for most of his adult life, contributing to the city’s de…
The moving of the Post Office from Market Square to its new site in Cathedral Square, was a significant development in Cathedral Square’s importance in Christchurch business and city life. Th…
Dominating a once simpler Cathedral Square, are the formidable buildings – Government Life Insurance Building, the Grand Theatre, the Crystal Palace Theatre, the Reuters Telegram Company Buil…
The former Government Life building in Cathedral Square. A couple of windows have been broken and a window on the ground floor has been boarded up.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Give Enterprise a Life Line business meeting in the Christchurch Town Hall re: the aftermath of the 4 September earthquake. Mathew Carpenter".
A digitally manipulated image of a black truck parked outside the Bus Exchange building on Colombo Street. The photographer comments, "Life is always full of surprises".
Damage to the Cranmer Courts. Mike Hewson's art installation, 'Homage To The Lost Spaces (Government Life Building Studio Series)' can be seen on the bottom right.
On 22 February 2011, Ōtautahi Christchurch was struck by a devastating earthquake. The city was changed forever: lives were lost, buildings destroyed and much of the city’s infrastructure needed to be repaired or replaced. One of the unexpected outcomes of the process of recovery was the volume of archaeological work that was carried out in the city, including the substantial amount of buildings archaeology that was undertaken (that is, recording standing buildings prior to and during their demolition, using archaeological techniques). Amongst the numerous buildings recorded in this way were 101 houses from across the city (but concentrated in those areas hit hardest by the earthquakes), built between 1850 and 1900. This work yielded a wealth of data about what houses in the city looked like in the nineteenth century. It is this data that forms the core of my thesis, providing an opportunity to examine the question of what life was like in nineteenth century Christchurch through these houses and the people who built them. Christchurch was founded in 1850 by European settlers, most of whom were English. These people came to New Zealand to build a better life for themselves and their families. For many of them, this ‘better life’ included the possibility of owning their own home and, in some instances, building that house (or at least, commissioning its construction). The buildings archaeology data collected following the Canterbury earthquakes enabled a detailed analysis of what houses in the city looked like in the nineteenth century – their form, and both their external and internal appearance – and how this changed as the century progressed. A detailed examination of the lives of those who built 21 of the houses enabled me to understand why each house looked the way it did, and how the interplay of class, budget and family size and expectations (amongst other factors) shaped each house. It is through these life stories that more about life in Christchurch in the nineteenth century was revealed. These are stories of men and women, of success and failure, of businesses and bankruptcies. There are themes that run through the stories: class, appearances, death, religion, gender, improvement. Just as importantly, though, they reveal the everyday experiences of people as they set about building a new city. Thus, through the archaeology of the houses and the history of the people who built them, an earthquake has revealed more about life in nineteenth century Christchurch, as well as providing the means for a deeper understanding of the city’s domestic architecture.
Information on events, weekly services, music, history and architecture, news and newsletters and current and archived sermons. Includes both pre-earthquake information, and current life of the cathedral.
A photograph of a man playing mini-golf on Gap Filler's Gap Golf course.
A photograph of a child playing mini-golf on Gap Filler's Gap Golf course.
A woman crushed to within milimetres of her life in the Christchurch earthquake says it is murderously cavalier for Wellington's council not to cordon off weak or prone buildings.
Detail of the artwork 'Homage To The Lost Spaces (Government Life Building Studio Series' by Mike Hewson. These were installed on damaged buildings, this one being the Cranmer Courts.
Cashel Street has been taken over by the new phenomenon – motor cars. This photograph documents the quickly changing dynamics of a street which once enjoyed a more sedentary pace of life. Ch…
Captain Lorriane Loses his Life The Balloon Carried out to Sea A Terrible Fall. The Aeronaut Drowned, Fruitless Search for his Body. Star, Issue 6633, 3 November 1899, Page 4 Not one of the thousan…
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "John Parrot's two model cars did not fare as well as his life-sized Morris-Miner convertible which survived the September 4 earthquake without a scratch.
A new Bill looks to make life easier for people affected by major disasters, following the human disaster created by shortcomings of the Earthquake Commission in its response to the Christchurch earthquakes.
A document written by University of Canterbury alumnus Mary Priscilla Clark (nee Macleod). The document describes the life of her great uncle, Murdoch Keith Macleod, also an alumnus of the University.