Old churches and earthquakes do not mix well.
GNS seismologists explain why the Darfield and Christchurch earthquakes were so damaging and 'punchy'
Rodger Bates is a farmer from near Darfield.
A video of interviews with Kaiapoi residents about their the 4 September 2010 earthquake. Kaiapoi was one of the worst-affected areas following the earthquake which was centred in Darfield.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake damage to roads near Darfield".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake damage to roads near Darfield".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake damage to roads near Darfield".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake damage to roads near Darfield".
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
Toppled grain silos on the outskirts of Darfield near the epicentre of the magnitude 7,1 earthquake that struck on Saturday 4 September 2010.
On the way to Darfield to locate the faultline where the tectonic plates slipped, causing the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Saturday 4 September 2010.
On 4 September 2010, a magnitude Mw 7.1 earthquake struck the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. The epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Darfield area about 40 km west of the city of Christchurch. Extensive damage was inflicted to lifelines and residential houses due to widespread liquefaction and lateral spreading in areas close to major streams, rivers and wetlands throughout Christchurch and Kaiapoi. Unreinforced masonry buildings also suffered extensive damage throughout the region. Despite the severe damage to infrastructure and residential houses, fortunately, no deaths occurred and only two injuries were reported in this earthquake. From an engineering viewpoint, one may argue that the most significant aspects of the 2010 Darfield Earthquake were geotechnical in nature, with liquefaction and lateral spreading being the principal culprits for the inflicted damage. Following the earthquake, an intensive geotechnical reconnaissance was conducted to capture evidence and perishable data from this event. This paper summarizes the observations and preliminary findings from this early reconnaissance work.
Three seismologists from GeoNet reflect on the decade of big earthquakes that began 10 years ago with the Darfield earthquake in Canterbury.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Darfield man Craig Smith with earthquake damage to farm paddocks near Christchurch".
A video about the 4 September 2010 earthquake, produced for the anniversary of the earthquake. The video includes footage of the earthquake damage to the Christchurch city centre, Darfield, Rolleston, and Hororata. It also includes footage of diggers clearing stock in the Canterbury Brewery on St Asaph Street, engineers checking buildings in town, and a fire on Worcester Street.
This paper provides an overview of the salient aspects of the dense array of ground motions observed in the 4 September 2010 Darfield and 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Particular attention is given to inferred physical reasons for the observed ground motions, which include: (i) source features such as forward directivity effects; (ii) The effects of the Canterbury Plains sedimentary basin on basin-generated surface waves, and waveguide effects through the region; and (iii) the importance of local site response as evidenced by observations of large long period amplification and liquefaction. The significance of vertical ground motion intensity is also examined.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Di and Craig Roberts refuse to look at their earthquake-damaged house near Darfield".
This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study on the resilience and recovery of organisations following the Darfield earthquake in New Zealand on 4 September 2010. Sampling included organisations proximal and distal to the fault trace, organisations located within central business districts, and organisations from seven diverse industry sectors. The research captured information on the challenges to, the impacts on, and the reflections of the organisations in the first months of recovery. Organisations in central business districts and in the hospitality sector were most likely to close while organisations that had perishable stock and livestock were more heavily reliant on critical services. Staff well-being, cash flow, and customer loss were major concerns for organisations across all sectors. For all organisations, the most helpful factors in mitigating the effects of the earthquake to be their relationship with staff, the design and type of buildings, and critical service continuity or swift reinstatement of services.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Canterbury earthquake. Amy Taylor from Darfield photographs the damage to St Johns church in Hororata".
On 4 September 2010, a magnitude Mw 7.1 earthquake struck the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. The epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Darfield area about 40 km west of the city of Christchurch. Extensive damage occurred to unreinforced masonry buildings throughout the region during the mainshock and subsequent large aftershocks. Particularly extensive damage was inflicted to lifelines and residential houses due to widespread liquefaction and lateral spreading in areas close to major streams, rivers and wetlands throughout Christchurch and Kaiapoi. Despite the severe damage to infrastructure and residential houses, fortunately, no deaths occurred and only two injuries were reported in this earthquake. From an engineering viewpoint, one may argue that the most significant aspects of the 2010 Darfield Earthquake were geotechnical in nature, with liquefaction and lateral spreading being the principal culprits for the inflicted damage. Following the earthquake, a geotechnical reconnaissance was conducted over a period of six days (10–15 September 2010) by a team of geotechnical/earthquake engineers and geologists from New Zealand and USA (GEER team: Geo-engineering Extreme Event Reconnaissance). JGS (Japanese Geotechnical Society) members from Japan also participated in the reconnaissance team from 13 to 15 September 2010. The NZ, GEER and JGS members worked as one team and shared resources, information and logistics in order to conduct thorough and most efficient reconnaissance covering a large area over a very limited time period. This report summarises the key evidence and findings from the reconnaissance.
The M7.1 Darfield earthquake shook the town of Christchurch (New Zealand) in the early morning on Saturday 4th September 2010 and caused damage to a number of heritage unreinforced masonry buildings. No fatalities were reported directly linked to the earthquake, but the damage to important heritage buildings was the most extensive to have occurred since the 1931 Hawke‟s Bay earthquake. In general, the nature of damage was consistent with observations previously made on the seismic performance of unreinforced masonry buildings in large earthquakes, with aspects such as toppled chimneys and parapets, failure of gables and poorly secured face-loaded walls, and in-plane damage to masonry frames all being extensively documented. This report on the performance of the unreinforced masonry buildings in the 2010 Darfield earthquake provides details on typical building characteristics, a review of damage statistics obtained by interrogating the building assessment database that was compiled in association with post-earthquake building inspections, and a review of the characteristic failure modes that were observed.
A video of an interview with Tania and Paddy McKay from Darfield about how their lives have changed a year after the 4 September 2010 earthquake. This video is part of The Press's 'One Year On: September 4, 2010' series.