It would have been a glorious Spring day in Christchurch had it not been for the magnitude 7.1 earthquake at 4:30 am. All the water and silt you can see covering the street in this photo erupted from the ground following the earthquake.
Lots of people were out and about in the streets checking on everyone after the earthquake. When it was clear that everyone was OK, the sand volcanos became the feature of interest.
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The earthquake knocked over the bird bath.
Debra points at the beginnings of a sand volcano not long after the big earthquake.
And, yes, the newspaper always gets through! The Press newspapers were delivered in our area of Hoon Hay in the hours after the earthquake.
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These were scattered across the park.
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(I righted the bird bath after the initial earthquake. None of the after-shocks were sufficient to knock it over again.)
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This one was really flowing out of the ground.
Buildings subject to earthquake shaking will tend to move not only horizontally but also rotate in plan. In-plan rotation is known as “building torsion” and it may occur for a variety of reasons, including stiffness and strength eccentricity and/or torsional effects from ground motions. Methods to consider torsion in structural design standards generally involve analysis of the structure in its elastic state. This is despite the fact that the structural elements can yield, thereby significantly altering the building response and the structural element demands. If demands become too large, the structure may collapse. While a number of studies have been conducted into the behavior of structures considering inelastic building torsion, there appears to be no consensus that one method is better than another and as a result, provisions within current design standards have not adopted recent proposals in the literature. However, the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission recently made the recommendation that provisions to account for inelastic torsional response of buildings be introduced within New Zealand building standards. Consequently, this study examines how and to what extent the torsional response due to system eccentricity may affect the seismic performance of a building and considers what a simple design method should account for. It is concluded that new methods should be simple, be applicable to both the elastic and inelastic range of response, consider bidirectional excitation and include guidance for multi-story systems.
Yes, it was a joke. The tours, that is, not the yard filled with earthquake-caused sand volcanos. They were very real. You can see one covering the driveway in this photo. The signs read as follows. "Tours run 1/2 hourly. $5.25 admission. Eftpos unavailable." "If you think this is bad... you should see the back!"
Band Together - Concert for Canterbury www.bandtogetherforcanterbury.co.nz 23rd October 2010 Free concrete in Hagley Park following the 4th September 2010 earthquake
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An usual thing to see coming from the ground in Hoon Hay, Christchurch.
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The paper examines community benefits provided by an established community garden following a major earthquake and discusses possible implications for community garden planning and design in disaster-prone cities. Recent studies show that following extreme storm events community gardens can supply food, enhance social empowerment, provide safe gathering spots, and restorative practices, to remind people of normality. However, the beneficial role played by community gardens following earthquakes is less well known. To fill this gap, the study examines the role played by a community garden in Christchurch, New Zealand, following the 2010/2011 Canterbury Earthquakes. The garden's role is evaluated based on a questionnaire-based survey and in-depth interviews with gardeners, as well as on data regarding the garden use before and after the earthquakes. Findings indicate the garden helped gardeners cope with the post-quake situation. The garden served as an important place to de-stress, share experiences, and gain community support. Garden features that reportedly supported disaster recovery include facilities that encourage social interaction and bonding such as central meeting and lunch places and communal working areas.
A PDF copy of The Star newspaper, published on Friday 9 November 2012.