On Tuesday 22 February 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city. The ‘earthquake’ was in fact an aftershock to an earlier 7.1 magnitude earthquake that had occurred on Saturday 4 September 2010. There were a number of key differences between the two events that meant they had dramatically different results for Christchurch and its inhabitants. The 22 February 2011 event resulted in one of New Zealand’s worst natural disasters on record, with 185 fatalities occurring and hundreds more being injured. In addition, a large number of buildings either collapsed or were damaged to the point where they needed to be totally demolished. Since the initial earthquake in September 2010, a large amount of building-related research has been initiated in New Zealand to investigate the impact of the series of seismic events – the major focus of these research projects has been on seismic, structural and geotechnical engineering matters. One project, however, conducted jointly by the University of Canterbury, the Fire Protection Association of New Zealand and BRANZ, has focused on the performance of fire protection systems in the earthquakes and the effectiveness of the systems in the event of post-earthquake fires occurring. Fortunately, very few fires actually broke out following the series of earthquake events in Christchurch, but fire after earthquakes still has significant implications for the built environment in New Zealand, and the collaborative research has provided some invaluable insight into the potential threat posed by post-earthquake fires in buildings. As well as summarising the damage caused to fire protection systems, this paper discusses the flow-on effect for designing structures to withstand post-earthquake fires. One of the underlying issues that will be explored is the existing regulatory framework in New Zealand whereby structural earthquake design and structural design for fire are treated as discrete design scenarios.
A video of an interview with Tom Thomson, Managing Director of Elastomer Products, about the experiences of businesses in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Thomson talks about the importance of focussing on people, diversifying infrastructure, and informing customers after the earthquakes. He also talks about the need for businesses to understand their insurance policies and to have building and service fall-back plans. This video is part of a series about businesses in Christchurch after the earthquakes.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "One of the many the tributes left on Colombo Street between St Asaph and Tuam Streets where 13 people died on 22 February 2011".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "One of the many the tributes left on Colombo Street between St Asaph and Tuam Streets where 13 people died on 22 February 2011".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "One of the many the tributes left on Colombo Street between St Asaph and Tuam Streets where 13 people died on 22 February 2011".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "the Edmonds Clock Tower heavily braced. (time stopped at 12:51, the moment of the Feb 22, 2011 earthquake) (the tower has subsequently been partly deconstructed for repair )".
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
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.
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
A Gap Filler project, Wayne Youle's "I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour " (2011), is a shadowboard mural on an empty wall in Sydenham which depicts things lost during the earthquake.
A fallen branch caught in weeds in the River Styx. The photographer comments, "This branch was broken off during one of the recent Christchurch earthquakes and fell into the River Styx. Now one side has sprouted roots and the other new buds".
A video of an interview with John Walley, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association, about the experiences of businesses in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Walley talks about the stress on manufacturers to continue as usual after the earthquakes. He also talks about the importance of businesses' communication lines, and looking after customers and staff. This video is part of a series about businesses in Christchurch after the earthquakes.
Earthquake events can be sudden, stressful, unpredictable, and uncontrollable events in which an individual’s internal and external assumptions of their environment may be disrupted. A number of studies have found depression, and other psychological symptoms may be common after natural disasters. They have also found an association between depression, losses and disruptions for survivors. The present study compared depression symptoms in two demographically matched communities differentially affected by the Canterbury (New Zealand) earthquakes. Hypotheses were informed by the theory of learned helplessness (Abramson, Seligman & Teasdale, 1978). A door-to-door survey was conducted in a more physically affected community sample (N=67) and a relatively unaffected community sample (N=67), 4 months after the February 2011 earthquake. Participants were again assessed approximately 10 months after the quake. Measures of depression, acute stress, anxiety, aftershock anxiety, losses, physical disruptions and psychological disruptions were taken. In addition, prior psychological symptoms, medication, alcohol and cigarette use were assessed. Participants in the more affected community reported higher depression scores than the less affected community. Overall, elevated depressive score at time 2 were predicted by depression at time 1, acute stress and anxiety symptoms at time 2, physical disruptions following the quake and psychosocial functioning disruptions at time 2. These results suggest the influence of acute stress, anxiety and disruptions in predicting depression sometime after an earthquake. Supportive interventions directed towards depression, and other psychological symptoms, may prove helpful in psychological adjustment following ongoing disruptive stressors and uncontrollable seismic activity.
Graffiti on a wooden wall depicts a child pointing at a site across the street and reads "I remember when the Kazbah was over there." The photographer comments, "A local street artist has commemorated Christchurch's deadliest earthquake. The anniversary is tomorrow. Where the photograph was taken was the site of the Ozone Hotel, which has now gone as well. For some of us who live and work in the East of Christchurch the earthquake was not what happened in the City as we were almost unaware of it. We had no water, toilets and most of all no electricity for weeks. For myself petrol was low and with tales of all the petrol stations on our side of town being damaged we could not take the chance of venturing out on severely damaged roads to find no petrol and the possibility of not getting home. We walked around and saw the damage that was local to us. TJ's Kazbah was one that stood out. A building that had a beauty with its round tower standing proud and always looked well kept - it was now collapsed. Its tower, which was once pointing towards the sky was laying on its side. It had kept its shape, but had a lightning shaped crack through it. The one thing that kept us feeling almost normal through the coming weeks was The Press our daily paper still being delivered even though the Press building and staff had suffered so badly themselves.
Following the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011 a number of researchers were sent to Christchurch, New Zealand to document the damage to masonry buildings as part of “Project Masonry”. Coordinated by the Universities of Auckland and Adelaide, researchers came from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Italy, Portugal and the US. The types of masonry investigated were unreinforced clay brick masonry, unreinforced stone masonry, reinforced concrete masonry, residential masonry veneer and churches; masonry infill was not part of this study. This paper focuses on the progress of the unreinforced masonry (URM) component of Project Masonry. To date the research team has completed raw data collection on over 600 URM buildings in the Christchurch area. The results from this study will be extremely relevant to Australian cities since URM buildings in New Zealand are similar to those in Australia
A video about a fire which broke out in an earthquake-damaged building on High Street. The video includes an interview with Steve Kennedy, Canterbury Fire Service Assistant Area Manager, Brigid Fayle, who worked in the building prior to the 22 February 2011 earthquake, and Anne MacKenzie, a structural engineer who worked on strengthening the building.
A video of an interview with Helen and Edna Yates about their Worcester Street house which is to be demolished due to earthquake damage. The 96-year-old identical twins lived in the house for 95 years before it was damaged in the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The video includes footage of Helen and Edna visiting the house before it is demolished.
Plastic and fabric sing and learn toy. The plastic and fabric doll is dressed in a yellow and orange suit with hood and ears and features a sound module set inside its tummy, a squeaker in its left arm and rustled plastic in its right arm.
An aerial photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Latimer Square". Seats set up in Latimer Square in preparation for the commemoration of the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake can be seen on the right.
Remembering the Christchurch February 2011 earthquake; the Crown is considering an appeal after bail was granted to Kim Dotcom; and Murray McCully's emails appear to demonstrate a desire to resist China's advances in the Pacific.
Went into this cafe a few times in years gone by (all on camera club field trips or photowalks). It was a nice two-storey building then. Not now after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Tributes left on Colombo Street at the bus stop between St Asaph and Tuam Streets where nine people died on the bus and four on the pavement on 22 February 2011".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A tribute left on the Colombo Street bus stop between St Asaph and Tuam Streets where nine people died on the bus and four on the pavement on 22 February 2011".
This is a book review, though not classified that way by the journal. The 1995 book, “Wellington after the quake: the challenge of rebuilding cities”, is reviewed in light of the 2010/2011 Canterbury, New Zealand, earthquakes. Lessons are drawn related to the difficulties of recovery of complex infrastructure systems after disasters.
Glass panels with brass surrounds, stacked inside a building. The photographer comments, "These were brass dividers that were brought inside the building two years ago after the Christchurch earthquake. They have been sitting there abandoned in a restaurant that will be either repaired and reopened at a later date or demolished like the many others of its kind".