Under further legislation introduced after the February 2011 earthquake, the Canterbury ... felt the effects of this approach. It was like I imagine the Blitz was like...http://www.quakestories.govt.nz/394/story/, The sound was awful, a loud noise like a huge aeroplane landing...http://www.quakestories.govt.nz/488/story/, The noise was so intense, like a train coming through the building.http://www.quakestories.govt.nz/446/story/, Within seconds I found myself huddled against the retaining wall in my back garden, listening to the sounds of walls collapsing, breaking glass and the ominous boom, boom, boom as huge boulders came bouncing down the hillsides around me. Where did you put MY city?’…, Then, of course, was the cathedral. WELLINGTON — The earthquake that shattered the New Zealand city of Christchurch last month will cost the country as much as 15 billion New Zealand dollars … The earthquake struck the city of Christchurch in New Zealand on 22 February 2011. We helped one colleague search for her cellphone, which she had lost in the panic of diving to get under her desk. After more words, the teams were dismissed to return to Latimer Square. We returned to Latimer Square, expecting the silence to be called within the camp itself. I remember holding someone’s hand and asking someone else to hold this person’s hand – and the next thing I recall is standing on the rubble of the CTV site – one of about 8 or 9 people who were helping to lead people down with various injuries from what appeared to be a hole at the top of the rubble…. Many thousands of people suffered minor injuries similar to those sustained in the September quake. 12-18) and other buildings (vol. The ED itself had been compromised by fallen ceiling tiles, and a damaged backup power supply left us in darkness for significant periods. We can't make it better for the families but we can certainly make it worse for them if we get it wrong. February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Language schools and other groups catering for international students were hit particularly hard, with international enrolments dropping by 57% between 2010 and 2012. Culture and Society Some families voiced criticism of the time it took to name victims. Among these was Shag Rock/Rapanui (the great stern post) at the entrance to the Heathcote and Avon estuary/Te Ihutai at Sumner. More than 80% of those involved in the research said that their lives had changed ‘significantly’ since the earthquake, and more than two-thirds were ‘grieving for lost Christchurch’. Despite the valuable contribution of volunteers and the NZDF, there was enormous pressure on the city’s dedicated emergency services – Police, Fire Service and St John Ambulance – in the immediate aftermath of the main shock. The New Zealand Police provided bereaved families with a dedicated liaison officer able to answer questions and give support. Meet the NZHistory.net.nz team, Dust clouds above central Christchurch, 22 February 2011. By mid-morning [Monday 28th], Dr Collins had arranged for a couple of cellphones and had our Medical Centre number diverted to them. Next of kin based overseas had to rely on second-hand information. 756-63, Stories of resilience and innovation in schools and early childhood services: Canterbury earthquakes 2010–2012 (June 2013)*: 19/06/2013, Education Review Office, 2013, Alastair Suren, The Brigade: earthquake 2011: a tribute to the Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade, Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade, Lyttelton, 2012, Hugh Trengrove, ‘Operation earthquake 2011: Christchurch earthquake disaster victim identification’, The Journal of Forensic Odonto-stomatology, 12/2011, vol. Most serious was the loss of electricity at the region’s only acute-care hospital, Christchurch Hospital. Though the government supplied money for those who were fired, businesses that needed re-building and injured employees. I put my feet on the floor and braced my arms as the house was violently shaken, and this time things were different. Everyone was out on the streets and everyone asked the same question of each other – ‘Are you alright?’. In a way it was really nice, in light of the news this week about the cathedral’s partial demolition, and the unexpected complicated swirl of emotions that brought up in me, to be able to get close to it and take a picture. Becker, D.M. The February earthquake and its aftershocks, like the September earthquake and aftershocks that preceded it, affected Cantabrians’ well-being in ‘complex and diverse ways’. Volunteers helped clear up the silt left behind from liquefaction. Johnston and K.P. As a comparison, the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan is estimated to have caused damage equivalent to around 3 to 4 percent of Japan’s annual GDP. Liquefaction – ‘a liquid mush’ of soft sand and silt which had wrecked building foundations, ruptured water and sewer pipes and shattered roads, footpaths and driveways in September – struck the city again. It set the tone for most of the way I felt on the rest of the trip – a strange sense of coming home mixed with a feeling that said, ‘what the hell is this place? One hundred and fifteen died in the CTV building, 18 in the PGC building, 36 in the central city (including eight on buses), and 12 in the suburbs. The city also faced a new problem. One elderly man was holding up a photograph, possibly of his daughter. Obituaries of the 185 people killed in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, Martin van Beynen, Trapped: remarkable stories of survival from the 2011 Canterbury earthquake, Penguin, Auckland, 2012, G. Dellow et al., ‘Landslides caused by the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and management of landslide risk in the immediate aftermath’, Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, vol. However, the charred lift shaft remained, along with a quantity of slabs and other rubble. Paul Gee, an emergency department doctor at Christchurch Hospital, mentions some of these issues in his account of the immediate aftermath of the earthquake: When I arrived at the emergency department (ED), it was teeming with casualties from the central business district. One of my best friend’s daughters was hysterical, so I grabbed her too and we had a big group hug for about half an hour, trying to calm down, trying to make light of the bigger aftershocks, which were rumbling through on average every five minutes.http://www.quakestories.govt.nz/105/story/. Perhaps you have a related experience you would like to share? Despite being ‘compromised’, Christchurch Hospital was able to continue to provide care, with the support of other hospital and primary care facilities. The 22 February 2011 earthquake caused 185 fatalities, injured 3,129 people, and 1,293 were injured in the aftermath. As in September, most of these people were injured during the primary earthquake, for example by tripping or falling. I hadn’t heard from my kids, or their mum, or my partner or anyone – then suddenly – about 30 txts and missed calls appear on my phone. You don’t get DNA matches in seconds at the push of a button – it takes time. 130,927 people were displaced, and 2,562 remain missing.. Nuclear crisis – A 9m high wave flooded the generators of the Fukushima nuclear power plant and destroyed electrical wiring. His daughter was among them: I drove home and I was shouting my daughter’s name. A number of groups assisted with this grim and difficult task at these buildings and elsewhere. Hebe, who was at Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti school in a multi-storey building in Cashel Mall at the time of the quake, recalled one of the big aftershocks: I think it was around this point that one of the big aftershocks hit, my best friend and I must have looked terrified, for the office lady let us hide under her desk…. 4, December 2011, 'Review of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Response to the 22 February Christchurch Earthquake', Civil Defence, David Johnston et al., ‘The 2010/2011 Canterbury Earthquakes: context and cause of injury’, Natural Hazards, January 2014, Ian McLean et al., Review of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Response to the 22 February Christchurch Earthquake, June 2012: http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/publications/Review-CDEM-Response-22-February-Christchurch-Earthquake.pdf, Miles Parker and Daan Steenkamp, ‘The economic impact of the Canterbury earthquake’, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin, vol. Sarb Johal, from the Joint Centre Disaster Research Centre at Massey University, presented two linked papers that explored the long-term recovery processes for healthcare providers and the communities they serve in the aftermath of the earthquakes that occurred in 2010/11 in Christchurch – New Zealand’s second most populous city. This work is part of a long-term As we slowly went down the stairs between our 15th floor and the 14th floor, one of my colleagues remembered he had a torch in his pocket. Beaches and waterways were polluted and closed to swimming for many months. Then we made our way to one of the stairwells and set off for the ground. Research undertaken by the Canterbury District Health Board and the Mental Health Foundation in 2012 as part of the initiative ‘All Right?’ found that how people felt was ‘closely related to how the earthquakes impacted on their … homes, relationships, social lives, communities, identities, finances and careers’. Some sectors were hit hard, ‘notably retail, accommodation and hospitality’. In this longitudinal study, we compare the effects of different types of relocation and level of affectedness on the incidence and relapse of mood and anxiety symptom treatments identified by publicly funded care or treatment one year before and one and two years after the ‘2011 Christchurch earthquake’ in New Zealand. In a blog written two days after the quake, Jennifer reflected on the likelihood she would know someone who had died: I’ve heard (either directly or indirectly) from all my close friends and most of my workmates now, so know they’re ok, but I also know the chances are, in a city of only half a million, that all of us will end up knowing someone who is a victim. [5]. Lyn Reid, who was injured in the earthquake and remained trapped in the Press building for more than three hours, feared that it would collapse: With the aftershocks I thought, Here we go. Some had increased their smoking or alcohol consumption, and fatigue was more common. It was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake and the focus was very shallow at 4.99 kilometres deep. I have several personal reasons for that, but the cathedral feels different. Search and rescue efforts were eventually scaled back and replaced by the search for and recovery of remains. [5] ‘Disaster Victim Identification teams in for the long haul’, NZ Police: http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/27378, [6] The National Christchurch Memorial Service booklet: https://gg.govt.nz/image/tid/350, [7] Christchurch Central Development Unit, 'Canterbury Earthquake Memorial': https://ccdu.govt.nz/projects-and-precincts/canterbury-earthquake-memorial. Among the many other individuals and groups who offered a range of practical and emotional help were chaplains and churches, embassy and consulate staff, the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission, and the New Zealand Red Cross through its Bereaved Families Programme. I went inside to help with the more seriously injured. 106–8. All non-text content is subject to specific conditions. On Tuesday 22 February, 2011 at 12.51 pm the lives of hundreds of thousands of Cantabrians were changed forever. I had a television on the wall and could see outside. At that stage, little did we know that it was to be with us for the next couple of months. This article was written by Imelda Bargas and produced by the NZHistory team. 1, January 2014, p. 81. Earthquake-damaged homes stand at the edge of a cliff. Do so here. A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake pummeled central New Zealand early on Monday, killing at least two people, damaging roads and buildings and setting off hundreds of strong aftershocks. 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