The 22nd February 2011, Mw 6.3 Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand caused major damage to critical infrastructure, including the healthcare system. The Natural Hazard Platform of NZ funded a short-term project called “Hospital Functions and Services” to support the Canterbury District Health Board’s (CDHB) efforts in capturing standardized data that describe the effects of the earthquake on the Canterbury region’s main hospital system. The project utilised a survey tool originally developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to assess the loss of function of hospitals in the Maule and Bío-Bío regions following the 27th February 2010, Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake in Chile. This paper describes the application of the JHU tool for surveying the impact of Christchurch earthquake on the CDHB Hospital System, including the system’s residual capacity to deliver emergency response and health care. A short summary of the impact of the Christchurch earthquake on other CDHB public and private hospitals is also provided. This study demonstrates that, as was observed in other earthquakes around the world, the effects of damage to non-structural building components, equipment, utility lifelines, and transportation were far more disruptive than the minor structural damage observed in buildings (FEMA 2007). Earthquake related complications with re-supply and other organizational aspects also impacted the emergency response and the healthcare facilities’ residual capacity to deliver services in the short and long terms.
Oxford Terrace Baptist Church on the corner of Madras St and Oxford Terrace, and alongside the Central City Fire Station on Kilmore St.
This study evaluated and recommended a methodology for undertaking an earthquake risk assessment for Christchurch, incorporating hazard analysis, inventory collection, damage modelling and loss estimation. See Object Overview for background and usage information.
The Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority says today's aftershocks have caused up to 50 additional buildings in the city's redzone to collapse or partially collapse.
A video of quotes from members of the public about the Christchurch Cathedral. The quotes are superimposed over images of the public viewing the earthquake-damaged cathedral.
A company helping to demolish earthquake damaged buildings in Christchurch, has come to the rescue of the heritage-listed Peterborough Centre.
A huge team of engineers is in Christchurch to assess the state of buildings damaged but still standing after Tuesday's earthquake.
People in Sumner with earthquake-damaged homes are demanding answers from the Christchurch City Council about the future of their properties.
Castle Rock above Heathcote, showing damage (and two very large pieces in the foreground) that came down during the 7.1 quake on 4th September.
A new temporary housing village for residents with earthquake-damaged homes in Christchurch has opened in the east of the city.
Two and a half years after some of the most badly earthquake damaged parts of Christchurch started getting cleared of residential homes, half a dozen businesses are still trying to make a go in the areas.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Peter Chisnall at Ward 3 in Princess Margaret Hospital after having to leave his home because of earthquake damage".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Zest have reopened on the corner of Lichfield and Manchester Streets after their High Street store was earthquake-damaged".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Murray Rowlands and Carly Sluys from Federated Farmers look at damaged grain silos west of Burnham after Saturday's earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Earthquake cleanup in Dallington. Transport Minister Steven Joyce (right) and other officials inspecting damage on Avonside Drive at Dallington".
The Canterbury region experienced widespread damage due to liquefaction induced by seismic shaking during the 4 September 2010 earthquake and the large aftershocks that followed, notably those that occurred on 22 February, 13 June and 23 December 2011. Following the 2010 earthquake, the Earthquake Commission directed a thorough investigation of the ground profile in Christchurch, and to date, more than 7500 cone penetration tests (CPT) have been performed in the region. This paper presents the results of analyses which use a subset of the geotechnical database to evaluate the liquefaction process as well as the re-liquefaction that occurred following some of the major events in Christchurch. First, the applicability of existing CPT-based methods for evaluating liquefaction potential of Christchurch soils was investigated using three methods currently available. Next, the results of liquefaction potential evaluation were compared with the severity of observed damage, categorised in terms of the land damage grade developed from Tonkin & Taylor property inspections as well as from observed severity of liquefaction from aerial photography. For this purpose, the Liquefaction Potential Index (LPI) was used to represent the damage potential at each site. In addition, a comparison of the CPT-based strength profiles obtained before each of the major aftershocks was performed. The results suggest that the analysis of spatial and temporal variations of strength profiles gives a clear indication of the resulting liquefaction and re-liquefaction observed in Christchurch. The comparison of a limited number of CPT strength profiles before and after the earthquakes seems to indicate that no noticeable strengthening has occurred in Christchurch, making the area vulnerable to liquefaction induced land damage in future large-scale earthquakes.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch Earthquake. Wayne Alexander has now lived through 3 earthquakes with a richter scale of 7 plus. 1968 Inangahua, 1989 San Francisco and 2010 Christchurch. His father also lived through three of the same magnitude. (L-R) Lochlan Alexander (2 yr), Wayne Alexander and Annemarie Winstone (mother of Lochlan). They live in one of the old Dean's family residences which sustained chimney damage in Saturday's earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch Earthquake. Wayne Alexander has now lived through 3 earthquakes with a richter scale of 7 plus. 1968 Inangahua, 1989 San Francisco and 2010 Christchurch. His father also lived through three of the same magnitude. (L-R) Lochlan Alexander (2 yr), Wayne Alexander and Annemarie Winstone (mother of Lochlan). They live in one of the old Deans family residences which sustained chimney damage in Saturday's earthquake".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Lyttelton Port CEO, Peter Davie, right explains the earthquake damage to transport minister, Steven Joyce, at Gladstone Pier".
One Month after the Christchurch Earthquake. This is in Kaiapoi at the north end of Christchurch. A view down the walkway next to the river Twitter | Facebook |
over the Avon - we hid a magnetic geocache under this one called "Whitebait Watch".
over the Avon - we hid a magnetic geocache under this one called "Whitebait Watch".".
over the Avon - we hid a magnetic geocache under this one called "Whitebait Watch".
over the Avon - we hid a magnetic geocache under this one called "Whitebait Watch".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Aftermath of the earthquake in Christchurch where the cleanup has begun. Historic buildings around Christchurch received varying degrees of damage. The Provincial Chambers on Durham Street is scaffolded".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Aftermath of the earthquake in Christchurch where the cleanup has begun. Historic buildings around Christchurch received varying degrees of damage. The Provincial Chambers on Durham Street is scaffolded".
More than ten weeks after being damaged beyond repair by the Christchurch earthquake, there is still no decision about how or when the Grand Chancellor Hotel will be demolished.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "St John's Church in Hororata is up for an expensive repair bill after it was badly damaged in the September 4 earthquake. Workers check out the damaged tower by crane as they decide where to start saving the church. Vicar Jenni Carter records the event".
As a result of the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake and the more damaging 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, considerable damage occurred to a significant number of buildings in Christchurch. The damage that occurred to the Christchurch Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (commonly known as the Christchurch Basilica) as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes is reported, and the observed failure modes are identified. A previous strengthening intervention is outlined and the estimated capacity of the building is discussed. This strengthening was completed in 2004, and addressed the worst aspects of the building's seismic vulnerability. Urgent work was undertaken post-earthquake to secure parts of the building in order to limit damage and prevent collapse of unstable parts of the building. The approach taken for this securing is outlined, and the performance of the building and the previously installed earthquake strengthening intervention is evaluated.A key consideration throughout the project was the interaction between the structural securing requirements that were driven by the requirement to limit damage and mitigate hazards, and the heritage considerations. Lessons learnt from the strengthening that was carried out, the securing work undertaken, and the approach taken in making the building "safe" are discussed. Some conclusions are drawn with respect to the effectiveness of strengthening similar building types, and the approach taken to secure the building under active seismic conditions. AM - Accepted Manuscript
Fire following earthquakes have caused the largest single loss due to earthquakes and in most cases have caused more damage than the quake itself. This problem is regarded very seriously in Japan and in some parts of the United States of America (San Francisco), but is not very seriously considered in other earthquake prone countries, yet the potential for future conflagrations following earthquakes is enormous. Any discussion of post earthquake fire must take into account structural and non-structural damages, initial and spreading fire, wind, water availability, and emergency responses. In this paper we will look at initial fire ignitions, growth and spread and life and property damage. Prevention methods will also be discussed. We will also discuss as examples some case studies: - San Francisco 1989 - Napier 1931 -Christchurch (scenario)