On Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. Christchurch struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, which killed 185 people and injured several thousand. The quake was centred 10km south-east of the city at a depth of 5km. In the ten minutes after it hit, there were 10 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or more. Also there was just a recent earthquake, which took place in September 2010. It was just as strong as the Haiti earthquake, at 7.0 on the Richter scale.
Causes
Earthquakes are caused when two plates move along a fault between them .New Zealand lies at the interface of the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian tectonic plates. There is a thrust fault which is linked with the plate boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates which meets in the centre of South Island. The epicentre was 6 miles South East of Christchurch and the focus was very shallow at 3.1 miles. The earthquake is related to the pressure exerted between the two great plates, of which the Alpine Fault is the most explicit sign. Instead of cracking at the boundary, the earthquake involved cracking within fragments of the Pacific Plate. In other words, they were ‘within-plate ‘ earthquakes but caused by tension between the plates.
Effects
185 people were killed and several thousands were injured, for this many. Hundreds of kilometers of water and sewage pipes were badly damaged. 80% of the city had no electricity. Liquefaction (where the ground gets saturated and loses strength) caused lots of damage to roads and buildings. A part of the country’s longest glacier was broken off creating a large iceberg size of 20 football fields. Due to all of this; businesses were put out of action for long periods causing losses of income and jobs. Different schools are forced to share classrooms together because of the damage to some schools. It is very difficult for people and emergency services to move around because of the damage of roads through liquefaction. Also, Christchurch could no longer host Rugby World Cup matches so lost the benefits like tourism and income, they would bring.
Responses
New Zealand is an MEDC, and one used to sitting on the Ring of Fire, the zone right around the Pacific Plate which is known for many earthquakes and active volcanoes. Four days after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Christchurch, New Zealand, rescue crews from seven nations are on the ground, still hopeful they may find survivors. Volunteers and government personnel have begun the difficult task of cleaning and rebuilding, and crews are working to restore desperately needed power and water systems. The loss of lives, the destruction of buildings, and the on-going aftershocks have taken a terrible toll on the greater Christchurch community and the nation. Recovering from natural disasters on this scale has never been tackled before and is uncharted territory for the affected communities, the councils, business and government. The government recognised the enormity of the task and passed legislation to establish the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) to lead and co-ordinate the recovery efforts.
Christchurch weren’t ready of prepared for the earthquake at all , it was very unexpected. Most the buildings (URM) were built between 1880 and 1935 – usually one, two or three story brick buildings built for commercial purposes, so they fell down. To reduce impact to an earthquake in the future is to mostly strengthen the old buildings.
http://cera.govt.nz/sites/cera.govt.nz/files/common/draft-recovery-strategy-for-greater-christchurch.pdf http://handygeography.wordpress.com/gcse/the-restless-earth-revision-materials/earthquake-case-study-new-zealand-rich/ http://keithwoodford.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/the-christchurch-earthquake-tectonic-plates-and-fault-lines/ http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/historic-earthquakes/page-13
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