Footprints in liquefaction silt on the side of a residential street. The photographer comments, "Silt has accumulated everywhere".
The twisted and broken Medway Street bridge, cordoned off with emergency tape. The photographer comments, "The twisted footbridge at the Medway St corner".
A man photographs large cracks in River Road where the road has slumped towards the river. The photographer comments, "Cracking in River Rd. The Banks Ave/Dallington Tce end of our block is impassable".
The twisted and broken Medway Street bridge, cordoned off with emergency tape. The photographer comments, "The twisted footbridge at the Medway St corner".
The entrance to Sol Square on Colombo Street, barred off with wire fencing and plastic walls.
A pile of bricks on the roof of The Christchurch Club, the remains of its collapsed chimney.
Workers digging up the road along Avonside Drive.
A footpath in Halswell where the pavement has cracked and uplifted due to liquefaction.
Spring flowers among the rubble of St John's Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch.
The wooden foot bridge over the Kaiapoi River. Slumping between the abutments can be seen.
Sewage continues to be pumped into the river while the damaged sewerage system is repaired.
A post on the NZ Raw blog written by Mark Lincoln on 4 September 2010. Mark says, "This is the first [blog post] I wrote on 4th Sept. I always remember an announcer on the radio having the first on-air interview with Geonet/EQC (obviously only 1 or 2 staff members at that stage!). The announcer asked if the aftershocks would carry on for much longer and the Geonet guy said they could carry on for a few weeks. Radio announcer seemed shocked".
A man sits in an armchair in the ruins of his house with his wife beside him. A man carrying a briefcase marked 'EQC' has come to make an insurance assessment and says 'Unfortunately, this is a North Canterbury collapse - so you'll only get your first $100,000 back'. Context; the Christchurch earthquake of 4th September and the collapse of the South Canterbury Finance Company. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker smiles smugly from the top of a cliff while Jim Anderton, his chief rival for mayor in the local body elections to be held on 9th October 2010, lands with a bump as the ground on which he was standing, collapses. Refers to the unexpected and advantageous public exposure gained by the incumbent mayor because of the Christchurch earthquake of the 4th September. Quantity: 2 digital cartoon(s).
Among the deformation features produced in Christchurch by the September 4th Darfield Earthquake were numerous and widespread “sand volcanoes”. Most of these structures occurred in urban settings and “erupted” through a hardened surface of concrete or tarseal, or soil. Sand volcanoes were also widespread in the Avon‐ Heathcote Estuary and offered an excellent opportunity to readily examine shallow subsurface profiles and as such the potential appearance of such structures in the rock record.
Cracks along the driveway and lawn of a property on Avonside Drive.
Detail of the cracking in the facade of the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church.
A braced chimney on a house in Cashmere which has also been waterproofed with tarpaulins, plastic sheeting and blankets.
Shops on Hills Road in Edgeware. The verandas on these store collapsed, bringing down the parapets as well.
Shops on Hills Road in Edgeware. The verandas on these store collapsed, bringing down the parapets as well.
Emergency Police tape placed over a footpath. The footpath is covered in broken glass from a smashed window.
On 4 September 2010, a magnitude Mw 7.1 earthquake struck the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. The epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Darfield area about 40 km west of the city of Christchurch. Extensive damage occurred to unreinforced masonry buildings throughout the region during the mainshock and subsequent large aftershocks. Particularly extensive damage was inflicted to lifelines and residential houses due to widespread liquefaction and lateral spreading in areas close to major streams, rivers and wetlands throughout Christchurch and Kaiapoi. Despite the severe damage to infrastructure and residential houses, fortunately, no deaths occurred and only two injuries were reported in this earthquake. From an engineering viewpoint, one may argue that the most significant aspects of the 2010 Darfield Earthquake were geotechnical in nature, with liquefaction and lateral spreading being the principal culprits for the inflicted damage. Following the earthquake, a geotechnical reconnaissance was conducted over a period of six days (10–15 September 2010) by a team of geotechnical/earthquake engineers and geologists from New Zealand and USA (GEER team: Geo-engineering Extreme Event Reconnaissance). JGS (Japanese Geotechnical Society) members from Japan also participated in the reconnaissance team from 13 to 15 September 2010. The NZ, GEER and JGS members worked as one team and shared resources, information and logistics in order to conduct thorough and most efficient reconnaissance covering a large area over a very limited time period. This report summarises the key evidence and findings from the reconnaissance.
PDF slides from a presentation given by Dr. Thomas Wilson from the UC Geology department on 27 October 2010.
Damage to the Coastguard Building in Kaiapoi. One of the concrete panels on the footpath has lifted, revealing an empty space underneath.
Diggers work to clear the rubble from a demolished building on Victoria Street. The Victoria Clock Tower can be seen in the distance.
A house on Dorset Street with a damaged retaining wall. The concrete blocks have been stacked on the footpath in front.
A large crack running through the driveway and lawn of a property on Avonside Drive.
A digger clearing away the rubble of Revival Upholstery and Furniture Care, a single storey brick shop on Barbadoes Street.
A digger works on clearing the rubble from demolished shops of Westminster Street in St Albans.
The footpath on Williams Street bridge in Kaiapoi. Since the earthquake, it has been re-instated after new pipes were laid.