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Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video about the restoration of New Regent Street. New Regent Street was damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The video includes an interview with Edward Leeson, manager of the restoration project.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This paper describes the pounding damage sustained by buildings in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Approximately 6% of buildings in Christchurch CBD were observed to have suffered some form of serious pounding damage. Typical and exceptional examples of building pounding damage are presented and discussed. Almost all building pounding damage occurred in unreinforced masonry buildings, highlighting their vulnerability to this phenomenon. Modern buildings were found to be vulnerable to pounding damage where overly stiff and strong ‘flashing’ components were installed in existing building separations. Soil variability is identified as a key aspect that amplifies the relative movement of buildings, and hence increases the likelihood of pounding damage. Building pounding damage is compared to the predicted critical pounding weaknesses that have been identified in previous analytical research.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This paper describes the pounding damage sustained by buildings in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Approximately 6% of buildings in Christchurch CBD were observed to have suffered some form of serious pounding damage. Typical and exceptional examples of building pounding damage are presented and discussed. Almost all building pounding damage occurred in unreinforced masonry buildings, highlighting their vulnerability to this phenomenon. Modern buildings were found to be vulnerable to pounding damage where overly stiff and strong ‘flashing’ components were installed in existing building separations. Soil variability is identified as a key aspect that amplifies the relative movement of buildings, and hence increases the likelihood of pounding damage. Building pounding damage is compared to the predicted critical pounding weaknesses that have been identified in previous analytical research.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of an interview with Andrew Wheely about the Whare store which has been operating from a garage since the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Wheely talks about how small businesses need flexible commercial leases to survive in the post-earthquake market. He also talks about the diploma in project management he has undertaken at the CPIT since the earthquakes.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of an interview with Michael Ardagh, Professor of Emergency Medicine at Christchurch Hospital. Ardagh talks about the challenges the emergency department at the Christchurch Hospital faced following the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A weather-damaged Chinese lantern fallen to the ground in Victoria Square. The Chinese New Year Lantern Festival was to be held on Saturday 26 February and Sunday 27 February 2011 but was cancelled due to the earthquake. The lanterns hung in Victoria Square until they fell.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a wreath and flowers tied to a lamppost on Colombo Street. They were placed there by Red Bus in memory of the bus driver and passengers who died in one of their busses during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A sign behind the wreath reads, "In remembrance of the tragic events during the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Colombo Street where our bus driver and his passengers Jayden Andrews-Howland, Phillip Coppeard, Joseph Routledge, Pelesa Sanft, Beverly May Stick and Earl Niche died, and Ann Brower was seriously injured".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A digitally manipulated photograph of a building on Poplar Lane. The photographer comments, "I felt that this building had a real Italian feel about it. It is actually in Christchurch, New Zealand. It appears on the list to be partially demolished after the Christchurch earthquake, so it might not be around for much longer".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Workers operate a drilling rig inside a Terra Probe truck, which has been raised on jacks to make it stable. The photographer comments, "Another completely different company testing what is below the surface to determine what type of foundations new houses will need. This is in one the blue/green area of earthquake shaken Christchurch. Strangely this is 3 metres away from where the other testing was done".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A digitally manipulated image of a daffodil placed on the gates of QEII Stadium. The photographer comments, "Someone placed a daffodil on the gates to the QEII Stadium in Christchurch. The stadium is being razed to the ground after being very badly damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. Besides being a Commonwealth Games stadium it was also housed one of the best swimming pools in the region".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A fence along the side of the Avon River near the Retour Restaurant has broken and is leaning towards the river. The photographer comments, "After the Christchurch earthquakes the land moved towards the river Avon and in a lot of places buildings and walls sagged down in the direction of the waterway".

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video of excavators demolishing the former railway station on Moorhouse Avenue. The building was only moderately damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake, but repair work was deemed too costly for the co-owner, Science Alive!.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The 22 February 2011, Mw6.2 Christchurch earthquake is the most costly earthquake to affect New Zealand, causing an estimated 181 fatalities and severely damaging thousands of residential and commercial buildings. This paper presents a summary of some of the observations made by the NSF-sponsored GEER Team regarding the geotechnical/geologic aspects of this earthquake. The Team focused on documenting the occurrence and severity of liquefaction and lateral spreading, performance of building and bridge foundations, buried pipelines and levees, and significant rockfalls and landslides. Liquefaction was pervasive and caused extensive damage to residential properties, water and wastewater networks, high-rise buildings, and bridges. Entire neighborhoods subsided, resulting in flooding that caused further damage. Additionally, liquefaction and lateral spreading resulted in damage to bridges and to stretches of levees along the Waimakariri and Kaiapoi Rivers. Rockfalls and landslides in the Port Hills damaged several homes and caused several fatalities.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damaged seating in the QEII stadium. The photographer comments, "This is the QEII stadium in Christchurch. During the 22 February earthquake the stadium was severely damaged and looks like it will be demolished. Anyone in Bay 3 would have no need of the toilet after this happened".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the John Robert Godley statue on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The statue fell off its plinth in Cathedral Square during the 22 February 2011 earthquake, exposing two time capsules.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

In the period between September 2010 and December 2011, Christchurch (New Zealand) and its surroundings were hit by a series of strong earthquakes including six significant events, all generated by local faults in proximity to the city: 4 September 2010 (Mw=7.1), 22 February 2011 (Mw=6.2), 13 June 2011 (Mw=5.3 and Mw=6.0) and 23 December 2011 (M=5.8 and (M=5.9) earthquakes. As shown in Figure 1, the causative faults of the earthquakes were very close to or within the city boundaries thus generating very strong ground motions and causing tremendous damage throughout the city. Christchurch is shown as a lighter colour area, and its Central Business District (CBD) is marked with a white square area in the figure. Note that the sequence of earthquakes started to the west of the city and then propagated to the south, south-east and east of the city through a set of separate but apparently interacting faults. Because of their strength and proximity to the city, the earthquakes caused tremendous physical damage and impacts on the people, natural and built environments of Christchurch. The 22 February 2011 earthquake was particularly devastating. The ground motions generated by this earthquake were intense and in many parts of Christchurch substantially above the ground motions used to design the buildings in Christchurch. The earthquake caused 182 fatalities, collapse of two multi-storey reinforced concrete buildings, collapse or partial collapse of many unreinforced masonry structures including the historic Christchurch Cathedral. The Central Business District (CBD) of Christchurch, which is the central heart of the city just east of Hagley Park, was practically lost with majority of its 3,000 buildings being damaged beyond repair. Widespread liquefaction in the suburbs of Christchurch, as well as rock falls and slope/cliff instabilities in the Port Hills affected tens of thousands of residential buildings and properties, and shattered the lifelines and infrastructure over approximately one third of the city area. The total economic loss caused by the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquakes is currently estimated to be in the range between 25 and 30 billion NZ dollars (or 15% to 18% of New Zealand’s GDP). After each major earthquake, comprehensive field investigations and inspections were conducted to document the liquefaction-induced land damage, lateral spreading displacements and their impacts on buildings and infrastructure. In addition, the ground motions produced by the earthquakes were recorded by approximately 15 strong motion stations within (close to) the city boundaries providing and impressive wealth of data, records and observations of the performance of ground and various types of structures during this unusual sequence of strong local earthquakes affecting a city. This paper discusses the liquefaction in residential areas and focuses on its impacts on dwellings (residential houses) and potable water system in the Christchurch suburbs. The ground conditions of Christchurch including the depositional history of soils, their composition, age and groundwater regime are first discussed. Detailed liquefaction maps illustrating the extent and severity of liquefaction across Christchurch triggered by the sequence of earthquakes including multiple episodes of severe re-liquefaction are next presented. Characteristic liquefaction-induced damage to residential houses is then described focussing on the performance of typical house foundations in areas affected by liquefaction. Liquefaction impacts on the potable water system of Christchurch is also briefly summarized including correlation between the damage to the system, liquefaction severity, and the performance of different pipe materials. Finally, the characteristics of Christchurch liquefaction and its impacts on built environment are discussed in relation to the liquefaction-induced damage in Japan during the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.