Following the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011 a number of researchers were sent to Christchurch, New Zealand to document the damage to masonry buildings as part of “Project Masonry”. Coordinated by the Universities of Auckland and Adelaide, researchers came from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Italy, Portugal and the US. The types of masonry investigated were unreinforced clay brick masonry, unreinforced stone masonry, reinforced concrete masonry, residential masonry veneer and churches; masonry infill was not part of this study. This paper focuses on the progress of the unreinforced masonry (URM) component of Project Masonry. To date the research team has completed raw data collection on over 600 URM buildings in the Christchurch area. The results from this study will be extremely relevant to Australian cities since URM buildings in New Zealand are similar to those in Australia.
A photograph of equipment from the New Zealand Fire Service Urban Search and Rescue team on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The equipment was used during the emergency response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of a flower in a road cone. On the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake, people were encouraged to place flowers in road cones as a way of honouring those who lost their lives during the earthquake.
An aerial photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "CTV site, IRD building and Latimer Square". Seats set up in Latimer Square in preparation for the commemoration of the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake can be seen on the left.
The roof of this collapsed building on Atlas Lane has fallen almost intact on top of the rubble. The photographer comments, "Whenever I go past this place it reminds me of a sinking ship".
A drain grating and surround sit on top of a broken curb. The photographer comments, "You can see that the drain cover no longer fits, but there is a metal surrounding that also has to be placed in first".
Plastic and wood model of three liquefaction volcanoes. The working model pumps water over the grey surface which is decorated with a basket of laundry, a bucket of pegs and a football. The model is surrounded by artificial green grass and rests atop a black wooden base.
A model of the ChristChurch Transitional Cathedral made predominantly out of laser cut and engraved coloured acrylic as well as timber dowels to represent the cardboard tubes.
The three versions of this cartoon show words reading 'rumble' and 'crack' and refer to problems in relationships between the Christchurch City Council and the government about how to manage the rebuilding of Christchurch after the second most damaging earthquake that occured one year ago today (22 February 2011) Quantity: 3 digital cartoon(s).
A container labelled 'Chch East residents' has landed on the far side of the planet Mars. Others have landed or are descending. People in space suits exit the containers. One of them shakes hands with a green Martian commenting to him that the ground there is solid, it has nice views and "... the locals are a lot less alien than the insurance agents back home". Cartoon published when NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars on 5 August 2012. At this time there there was public debate over insurance claims by earthquake survivors in Christchurch's eastern suburbs. Title taken from item. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s). Processing information: Record title, scope and contents and note fields were updated in June 2025 as part of reparative description work. Details available on request.
Shows a aerial representation of Christchurch's eastern suburbs with the course of the Avon River. The new river course spells the word 'munted'. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A photograph of flowers in two road cones on a traffic island. On the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake, people were encouraged to place flowers in road cones as a way of honouring those who lost their lives during the earthquake.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "185 Chairs, an art installation by Peter Majendie, as a memorial to those who died as a result of the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The chairs were chosen to reflect the variety of people who died".
A photograph of a letter on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The letter was found in a time capsule in the plinth of the statue of John Robert Godley in Cathedral Square after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of a letter on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The letter was found in a time capsule in the plinth of the statue of John Robert Godley in Cathedral Square after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
The old New Brighton Power Boat Club building was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake, and is only now (July 2012) being demolished. The building is just down the road from where I grew up and is a New Brighton iconic building.
The old New Brighton Power Boat Club building was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake, and is only now (July 2012) being demolished. The building is just down the road from where I grew up and is a New Brighton iconic building.
The sequence of earthquakes that has affected Christchurch and Canterbury since September 2010 has caused damage to a great number of buildings of all construction types. Following post-event damage surveys performed between April 2011 and June 2011, the damage suffered by unreinforced stone masonry buildings is reported and different types of observed failures are described. A detailed technical description of the most prevalently observed failure mechanisms is provided, with reference to recognised failure modes for unreinforced masonry structures. The observed performance of existing seismic retrofit interventions is also provided, as an understanding of the seismic response of these interventions is of fundamental importance for assessing the vulnerability of similar strengthening techniques when applied to unreinforced stone masonry structures.
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.
A photograph of The Press newspapers on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The newspapers where discovered inside a time capsule found in the plinth of the statue of John Robert Godley in Cathedral Square after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of The Press newspapers on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The newspapers where discovered inside a time capsule found in the plinth of the statue of John Robert Godley in Cathedral Square after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of a flower in a road cone at the University of Canterbury. On the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake, people were encouraged to place flowers in road cones as a way of honouring those who lost their lives during the earthquake.
A video of an interview with Mayumi Asakawa, a Japanese student from Kanagawa prefecture who was in Christchurch during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Asakawa returned to Christchurch to ring the Peace Bell in the Botanic Gardens during the Festival of Flowers commemorative ceremony.
A sticker produced by SPCA Canterbury for residents to stick on their doors, indicating that there is an animal inside the property. This was produced after the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes to help emergency personnel determine whether an animal is inside the building.
Warning tape on the gate of a residential property near Cranmer Square. The photographer comments, "The yellow tape was put on the gate to warn property [owners] that the house beyond was unsafe. Now there is no house, but by the cobwebs on the handle the tape is doing a great job".
A view down Beresford Street in New Brighton, looking west towards the city at sunset. The photographer comments, "On the other side of the Avon river from New Brighton is the Bexley red zone. Here numerous earthquake damaged streets of houses will be flattened due to it being to uneconomical in the current climate to repair the land to be suitable for housing. There is a campaign at the moment to try and convert all this red zone land, which is mainly adjacent to the Avon river to a giant park".
Two aluminium drink cans which have split open. The photographer comments, "We had around 24 cans of diet coke in the top of the fridge when the devastating 6.1 earthquake hit Christchurch in New Zealand. The shaking caused one of the front feet of the fridge to fold, which made the fridge tip forward and causing the door to open. After all the shaking the cans had already when they flew out and hit the ground a lot of them exploded. These two cans show the explosive pressure that occurred best".
Part of Mike Hewson's installation 'Homage To Lost Spaces' in the Cramner Courts building, a photograph of a young man working at a desk has been inserted into a gap in the building. The photographer comments, "Cranmer Courts in Christchurch, New Zealand was very badly damaged in the earthquakes that have rocked the City for the past two years. Mike Hewson thought he would try to bring life back into the buildings by putting photographs into the spaces where the doors and windows were. There was a month or so when no one seemed to know or admit who had put the pictures up, but it was done officially. It seems that though very badly damaged the buildings may get restored".
A photograph of the Speaker's Chair on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The Speaker's Chair stood at the southern end of the Stone Chamber of the Canterbury Provincial Chambers, and survived the 22 February 2011 earthquake despite the damage to the chamber.
A photograph of an exhibition sign next to two time capsules on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The time capsules were discovered in the plinth of the statue of John Robert Godley in Cathedral Square after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.