NZ Earthquake.... 6.3 Christchurch

[California Girl]

CG
Looks like everybody is helping out, which is cool..

Dougar
NZ is not thrifty when it comes to earthquake proofing buildings. In fact, NZ has some of the strictest building codes in the Western World. My old man's a builder, and I've jhelped him build a few houses. In my 40 years living in Auckland, there has only been one very slight tremor and that was three years ago. Like CHCH, Akld is not known for its earthquakes. Mind you, it's built on 40+ extinct/dormant volcanoes! And even then I didn't feel it the tremor. My wife did but she grew up in earthquake country. I didn't believe her, but sure enough 10 minutes later, the news said there had been a tremor.

Anyway, thanks all for good wishes and mucking in to help...

I'm just glad your Grumpy old ass is well away from the shit.

 

[Toro]

We have a few Kiwis here. Hope you and your families are okay.

 

[DiveCon]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

 

[idb]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

I'm no seismologist but, until there is seismic activity I'm guessing that there's no other way of telling.

 

[Dr Grump]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

Christchurch is situated on the eastern seaboard of the Canterbury Plains....IOW the Southern Alps (where there is a fault line), although visible frm CHCH are miles away. CHCH has never had any modern record of seismic activity....

 

[hipeter924]

I arrived back in NZ at Auckland airport. around 1 or 2 hours after the Earthquake, the radar across the country was down for a while. Christchurch airport is closed and 75 are dead as of today, and dozens more believed trapped under rubble so wouldn't surprise me if it reaches 90 or 100 by the end of the week. Very sad day none the less, feel sorry for them.

LATEST: The sun broke through the clouds at the precise moment a woman was pulled alive from the Pyne Gould Corporation (PGC) building about 2.15pm today, but another 14 are still believed to be trapped in the rubble.
There are also grave fears that the Hotel Grand Chancellor building in downtown Christchurch may collapse, with the building visibly slumping.
The city was hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake yesterday, with 75 deaths confirmed.

Email your quake photos and stories at newstips@stuff.co.nz

Rescuers had been working for about three hours to break through the rubble and concrete to get to the woman, whose name was Ann Bodkin.
They had heard her tapping through a wall and could just hear her through a wall, where she was trapped in a very confined space about halfway up the wreckage of the building.
She could see hands as rescuers reached into the space, although there were nervous moments shortly before she got out as the building shook in another of the numerous tremors.
Bodkin finally crawled out of the building on to a Fire Service ladder and was lowered down and lifted to the ground by firefighters. Her husband Graham Richardson was waiting.
Graham said it was just amazing "to have her back in his arms".
She was taken to hospital straight away to be checked out but apart from a sore shoulder appeared to be uninjured, he said, and was expected to be released tonight
When she was freed she was unable to say anything to him because she had an oxygen mask but giggled at what he said to her.
However, he would not divulge what he had told her.
Witnesses say the Hotel Grand Chancellor is almost warped and is believed to have sunk three metres in just 10 minutes this afternoon. Several internal floors have collapsed.
Police have cordoned off streets in a four-block radius around the 26-storey hotel.
The building on Cashel St is Christchurch's tallest hotel. No-one is believed to be in the building.
Meanwhile hopes that 15 people were still alive inside Christchurch's CTV building following yesterday's big quake have been dashed, leaving family members angry and upset.

Recovery efforts have now moved to the PGC building, where 14 staff, a group including workers from PGC as well as its subsidiaries Marac Finance and Perpetual Trust, remained unaccounted for.
PGC managing director Jeff Greenslade says the sight of the company's collapsed Christchurch office on Cambridge Terrace is "beyond words to describe".
"Remarkably the ground floor looks intact - the left hand side of the building all looks fine but everything above it has just concertinaed down.
"They're bringing people out quite regularly but it's a very painstaking and thorough process to make sure they're brought out safely, so it takes a while."
Late this morning Mayor Bob Parker and Prime Minister John Key confirmed at least 75 people were dead. They said 55 bodies had been identified and there were a further 20 unidentified bodies.
Parker said another 300 people were listed as missing, though not all of them would be trapped in buildings that were being searched for survivors.

More here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/chr...0/Christchurch-quake-toll-75-hundreds-missing

 

[westwall]

Man, the news coverage looks bad. Whole buildings collapsed down on themselves... I'd be surprised if the dead toll doesn't climb considerably. Let's hope not but, damn, Christchurch is devastated.

yeah, for living in a known quake zone, they didnt build properly

Smaller quake than the 7.1 they had some months ago but, apparently, the damage is much worse. Maybe the first weakened the buildings.... I don't know... but watching the coverage it looks seriously bad for the poor people of Christchurch.

This most recent quake was much shalower. Christchurch is a wonderful town, I have friends who teach at Canterbury and I have been talking with them and it is utter devestation. My place in Riccarton has been knocked flat (another building landed on it). New Zealand averages a 7.0 quake every 10 years but they have been located in the north island for the most part. Christchurch is a fairly old town with older buildings put up before more modern building codes. A very sad time for all concerned.

 

[westwall]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

I'm no seismologist but, until there is seismic activity I'm guessing that there's no other way of telling.

You can trench an area but Christchurch is built on quaternary aluvium so you would have to trench pretty deep to find the evidence. You can also use seismic tests where you dig a bunch of holes down several hundred feet and set up seismometers and other remote sensing moniters and then detonate explosives around the area you want to map. the sound waves will map out the undersurface formations and fault lines fairly well. It is however very expensive.

 

[westwall]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

The plate fault line is around 100 miles west of Christchurch.

 

[DiveCon]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

The plate fault line is around 100 miles west of Christchurch.

yeah, i found that out later
its completely onn the other side of the Island

 

[The Infidel]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

Good to see you're alright! My best wishes and prayers for you and your countrymen/women.

X2.... My prayers to everyone in that area.

This story has been lost among all the turmoil in the world. Thats too bad

 

[The Infidel]

 

[Neets]

Newest up date on the earth quake in New Zealand they have reported today about 145 death and over 200 still Missing

 

[strollingbones]

a very sad time for new zealand....

one thing i have noted, no one is saying this is due to them being this or that...like they tend to do with a muslim country is hit....you know all the talk of god's will etc....those voices are silent on this....

 

[Neets]

I think they are worried Now if they have another earth quake that the Volcano's could be woken and then they could be more then 175 deaths

 

[hipeter924]

a very sad time for new zealand....

one thing i have noted, no one is saying this is due to them being this or that...like they tend to do with a muslim country is hit....you know all the talk of god's will etc....those voices are silent on this....

Don't hold your breath, NZ is a rather agnostic-atheist leaning nation these days, they will find some reason like "god is angry because babies were aborted" or "those evil New Zealanders were punished for moving from the path of god" or some such.

But personally I don't care about that now, that guy that said Australians deserved the floods and bush fires will be lynched if he comes to New Zealand too.

 

[DiveCon]

a very sad time for new zealand....

one thing i have noted, no one is saying this is due to them being this or that...like they tend to do with a muslim country is hit....you know all the talk of god's will etc....those voices are silent on this....

Don't hold your breath, NZ is a rather agnostic-atheist leaning nation these days, they will find some reason like "god is angry because babies were aborted" or "those evil New Zealanders were punished for moving from the path of god" or some such.

But personally I don't care about that now, that guy that said Australians deserved the floods and bush fires will be lynched if he comes to New Zealand too.

the fringers will always find something
i tend to not pay attention to them

 

[editec]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

They knew...just like people know all over the earth that they live in quake zones.

Look at the map below and you'll see how impossible it is for mankind to avoid such dnager

If mankind didn't build on or near tectonic plates mankind couldn't live in much of Asia, the Mediterranian, or the West Coast of North America.

A billion (probably more) people would have to move thousands of miles to move out of those active quakes zones.

 

[DiveCon]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

They knew...just like people know all over the earth that they live in quake zones.

Look at the map below and you'll see how impossible it is for mankind to avoid such dnager

If mankind didn't build on or near tectonic plates mankind couldn't live in much of Asia, the Mediterranian, or the West Coast of North America.

A billion (probably more) people would have to move thousands of miles to move out of those active quakes zones.

actually, the fault line runs about 100 miles away from Christchurch
on the other side of the Island


but my point was not about building near fault lines so much as not building PROPERLY in a fault zone

 

[idb]

Dive is right

From NZ been living in Oz for three years. From the North Island, not the South where Christchurch is.
They say that although it was lower on the Richter scale it was more devastating for a couple of reasons 1) it was during lunchtime during the week (the last one was on a Sat morning) 2) it was a lot closer to the surface (5km under the surface, the last one was 10 km under the surface).

Dive
Up until the earthquake on Sept nobody knew there was a fault line under Christchurch, thus the buildings were not earthquake proof, unlike Wellington, which is built on a known fault line. Most buildings built in Wellington in the past 40 years have to be constructed to strict guidelines. Not so CHCH, although I guess that will now change.


CG et al, thanks for your kind wishes to my countrymen/women.

also the type of soil had an effect
they were saying there was a lot of liquefaction going on

and how could they NOT know it was either on or near a fault line?
it was right on the edge of the tectonic plates?

They knew...just like people know all over the earth that they live in quake zones.

Look at the map below and you'll see how impossible it is for mankind to avoid such dnager

If mankind didn't build on or near tectonic plates mankind couldn't live in much of Asia, the Mediterranian, or the West Coast of North America.

A billion (probably more) people would have to move thousands of miles to move out of those active quakes zones.

There's nothing like living on the edge!