Umut Akguzel Photograph 541

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the site of the Crowne Plaza Hotel taken from Radio New Zealand House on Durham Street. The hotel has been demolished, leaving large piles of rubble which an excavator is working to clear.

WEMO ERT Set 1 - March 2011 - Photograph 81

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of emergency management personnel near the site of the CTV Building. The rubble from the collapsed building has been cleared, leaving only the elevator tower. Road cones and emergency tape have been placed around the tower as a cordon.

Observatory Tower Photograph 28

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the rubble of the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. In the foreground is Chris Whitty, Site Manager of the Christchurch Arts Centre.

Ray Whelan WEMO Photograph 20

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the site of a demolished building on Gloucester Street, near the intersection of Colombo Street. A Southern Demolition excavator is being used to clear the rubble away. In the background are the Forsyth Barr building, the Copthorne Hotel and the PricewaterhouseCoopers building.

Elizabeth Ackermann Photograph 321

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the site of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the corner of Kilmore and Durham Streets. The hotel has been demolished into large piles of rubble which two excavators are working to clear. A sign on the cordon fence indicates that the demolition is being carried out by Grant Mackay Demolition Co. and Leigh Construction.

BeckerFraserPhotos February 2011 photograph 146

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damage to the church hall of St John the Baptist Church in Latimer Square. Masonry has fallen from one of the building's gables and has been piled against its base. The site has been enclosed in a safety fence. A spray-painted sign can be seen at the base of the building reading, "Danger! Wall unstable, stay clear". A piece of plywood is also visible weather proofing the building's roof.

What caused the spatial variability of strong ground motions near the epic…

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

During the 2011 M7.8 Kaikōura earthquake, ground motions recorded near the epicentre showed a significant spatial variation. The Te Mara farm (WTMC) station, the nearest to the epicentre, recorded 1g and 2.7g of horizontal and vertical peak ground accelerations (PGA), respectively. The nearby Waiu Gorge (WIGC) station recorded a horizontal PGA of 0.8g. Interestingly, however, the Culverden Airlie Farm (CULC) station that was very closely located to WIGC recorded a horizontal PGA of only 0.25g. This poster demonstrates how the local geological condition could have contributed to the spatially variable ground motions observed in the North Canterbury, based on the results of recently conducted geophysical investigations. The surficial geology of this area is dominated by alluvial gravel deposits with traces of silt. A borehole log showed that the thickness of the sediments at WTMC is over 76 metres. Interestingly, the shear wave velocity (Vs) profiles obtained from the three strong motion sites suggest unusually high shear wave velocity of the gravelly sediments. The velocity of sediments and the lack of clear peaks in the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratio at WTMC suggest that the large ground motion observed at this station was likely caused by the proximity of the station to the causative fault itself; the site effect was likely insignificant. Comparisons of H/V spectral ratios and Vs profiles suggest that the sediment thickness is much smaller at WIGC compared with CULC; the high PGA at WIGC was likely influenced by the high-frequency amplification caused by the response of shallow sediments.