By Lila Renrik
As if the 7.1 quake in Canterbury New Zealand on September 4th 2010 and the subsequent four thousand plus aftershocks continuing into February 2011 weren't enough to test our grit the earth decided to throw Cantabrians another curve ball but one that struck with far more devastating consequences.
We were incredibly lucky in the September quake to have no loss of life and only a couple of serious injuries. Although several buildings were destroyed, the damage to a large number was considered not so severe that they couldn't be restored. A few suburbs were badly affected by what is known as liquefaction, a phenomenon where soil or sandy soil loses its strength and acts like liquid, spewing out a grey sludgy mix that sets like concrete again when it dries. The results being the loss of essential services like sewerage, water and power but life and a semblance of normality improved rapidly as these services were restored to the city and restoration work got under way.
At 12.51pm on the 22nd February 2011 Christchurch in New Zealand was again shaken by a ferocious earthquake, this time with a magnitude of 6.3. Although registering less on the Richter scale than our September 4th quake it was far more severe in its attack and destruction, taking out several blocks of shops and high-rise buildings in the Central Business District. Falling debris flattening buses and cars as they drove past or were parked on the roadsides or in car-parking buildings. The destruction to houses & roads also spread much further into the suburbs than in the previous earthquake, causing 80% of the city to be without power, water and sewerage.
The most heart-rending of all, in this horrifying event, is the tragic loss of life with the death toll at one hundred and thirteen and still rising plus at least another two hundred missing at the time of writing this.
So why has this latest quake been so much more devastating than September's one?
Here are some differences:
September Quake
Yes we are shaken and there are deep emotional scars but we are not totally broken. We are survivors, we band together in such times and will pick ourselves up out of this mountain of rubble and continue on.
We were incredibly lucky in the September quake to have no loss of life and only a couple of serious injuries. Although several buildings were destroyed, the damage to a large number was considered not so severe that they couldn't be restored. A few suburbs were badly affected by what is known as liquefaction, a phenomenon where soil or sandy soil loses its strength and acts like liquid, spewing out a grey sludgy mix that sets like concrete again when it dries. The results being the loss of essential services like sewerage, water and power but life and a semblance of normality improved rapidly as these services were restored to the city and restoration work got under way.
At 12.51pm on the 22nd February 2011 Christchurch in New Zealand was again shaken by a ferocious earthquake, this time with a magnitude of 6.3. Although registering less on the Richter scale than our September 4th quake it was far more severe in its attack and destruction, taking out several blocks of shops and high-rise buildings in the Central Business District. Falling debris flattening buses and cars as they drove past or were parked on the roadsides or in car-parking buildings. The destruction to houses & roads also spread much further into the suburbs than in the previous earthquake, causing 80% of the city to be without power, water and sewerage.
The most heart-rending of all, in this horrifying event, is the tragic loss of life with the death toll at one hundred and thirteen and still rising plus at least another two hundred missing at the time of writing this.
So why has this latest quake been so much more devastating than September's one?
Here are some differences:
September Quake
- 7.1 magnitude
- 10.95 kms deep
- 648 kilo tons of energy
- 37.3 kms from Christchurch city square
- 4.35 am time of quake (most people sleeping and central city empty)
- 6.3 magnitude
- 5 kms deep (very shallow)
- 42 kilo tons of energy
- 9.7 kms from Christchurch city square (very close)
- 12.51 pm time of quake (lunch time and central city full of workers and shoppers)
Yes we are shaken and there are deep emotional scars but we are not totally broken. We are survivors, we band together in such times and will pick ourselves up out of this mountain of rubble and continue on.
