The Christchurch Art Gallery, with a Police car parked on the road in front. On the forecourt of the gallery is the sculpture "Reasons for Voyaging", a collaboration between Canterbury sculptor, Graham Bennett and architect, David Cole.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Cathedral Square walk through, which allowed citizens of Christchurch to view the Cathedral freely for the first time since 22 February when it was put behind a cordon for safety reasons".
Gold Award presented to Jade Rutherford and Gina Scandrett, the 'voices' of the Student Volunteer Army, who co-ordinated and tracked all jobs and movements of the organisation. Jade is from Tauranga and Gina is from Christchurch.
CPL Ian Warren, from the Royal New Zealand Air Force Air Security team, helping with the arrival of displaced people from Christchurch at the Air Force Air Movements terminal a week after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue Team in front of a collapsed house in the Christchurch central city. In the background, the Newstalk ZB Building can be seen.
On 22 February 2011, Canterbury and its largest city Christchurch experienced its second major earthquake within six months. The region is facing major economic and organisational challenges in the aftermath of these events. Approximately 25% of all buildings in the Christchurch CBD have been “red tagged” or deemed unsafe to enter. The New Zealand Treasury estimates that the combined cost of the February earthquake and the September earthquake is approximately NZ$15 billion[2]. This paper examines the national and regional economic climate prior to the event, discusses the immediate economic implications of this event, and the challenges and opportunities faced by organisations affected by this event. In order to facilitate recovery of the Christchurch area, organisations must adjust to a new norm; finding ways not only to continue functioning, but to grow in the months and years following these earthquakes. Some organisations relocated within days to areas that have been less affected by the earthquakes. Others are taking advantage of government subsidised aid packages to help retain their employees until they can make long-term decisions about the future of their organisation. This paper is framed as a “report from the field” in order to provide insight into the early recovery scenario as it applies to organisations affected by the February 2011 earthquake. It is intended both to inform and facilitate discussion about how organisations can and should pursue recovery in Canterbury, and how organisations can become more resilient in the face of the next crisis.
The extent of liquefaction in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch (Aranui, Bexley, Avonside, Avonhead and Dallington) from the February 22 2011 Earthquake resulted in extensive damage to in-ground waste water pipe systems. This caused a huge demand for portable toilets (or port-a-loos) and companies were importing them from outside Canterbury and in some instances from Australia. However, because they were deemed “assets of importance” under legislation, their allocation had to be coordinated by Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM). Consequently, companies supplying them had to ignore requests from residents, businesses and rest homes; and commitments to large events outside of the city such as the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercars and the Pasifika Festival in Auckland were impacted. Frustrations started to show as neighbourhoods questioned the equity of the port-a-loos distribution. The Prime Minister was reported as reassuring citizens in the eastern suburbs in the first week of March that1 “a report about the distribution of port-a-loos and chemical toilets shows allocation has been fair. Key said he has asked Civil Defence about the distribution process and where the toilets been sent. He said there aren’t enough for the scale of the event but that is quickly being rectified and the need for toilets is being reassessed all the time.” Nonetheless, there still remained a deep sense of frustration and exclusion over the equity of the port-a-loos distribution. This study took the simple approach of mapping where those port-a-loos were on 11-12 March for several areas in the eastern suburbs and this suggested that their distribution was not equitable and was not well done. It reviews the predictive tools available for estimating damage to waste water pipes and asks the question could this situation have been better planned so that pot-a-loo locations could have been better prioritised? And finally it reviews the integral roles of communication and monitoring as part of disaster management strategy. The impression from this study is that other New Zealand urban centres could or would also be at risk and that work is need to developed more rational management approaches for disaster planning.
The US Aid tent in Latimer Square. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, emergency service agencies set up their headquarters in Latimer Square.
Members of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Kensington House, 179-187 Manchester Street".
Royal New Zealand Air Force Iroquois helicopters flying over the PGC Building after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Members of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Damage to buildings along London Street in Lyttelton. Wire fencing has been used to cordon off the entire north side of the street.
Henare Rakiiha Tau greeting Prince William with a hongi. The Earthquake Memorial Service was held in Hagley Park on 18 March 2011.
A member of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Members of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Marquees and tents in Latimer Square. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, emergency service agencies set up their headquarters in Latimer Square.
Tents and equipment in Latimer Square. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, emergency service agencies set up their headquarters in Latimer Square.
A man making notes on a map of the Botanic Gardens outside the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. Cracks can be seen in the footpath to his left.
For the first time in November 2011, Christchurch residents finally had the opportunity to see the earthquake-damaged city centre on the Red Zone bus tours organised by CERA. Damage to buildings can be seen out the window.
The Salvation Army has been helping earthquake victims find food and shelter, as well as providing support to distraught and fearful people around Christchurch. Chris talked to Major Campbell Roberts, who is co-ordinating the Sallie's national response.
The new Wellington Venues Limited CEO discusses her ideas for the events scene in the capital, plus the addition of a new Christchurch Artists exhibition in the St James Theatre, which will raise money for artists affected by the earthquake
Tourism is in for a short, sharp shock as fewer people visit New Zealand after the earthquakes in Japan and Christchurch and Genesis Energy says customers have no one to blame but themselves when electricity prices spiked last Saturday.
Former editor of the Financial Times, and more recently was director general of the Confederation of British Industry, Sir Richard is New Zealand looking at earthquake recovery in Christchurch and to speak about climate change in a business context.
When Christchurch couple Maree Mockford and Bruce Vincent's home was badly damaged by the February earthquake they shifted into a caravan on their property. Six months later they're still roughing it, using a chemical toilet and showering off site.
The first of Christchurch's high-rise buildings to close after the February earthquake has reopened. All the tenants of the12-storey HSBC Tower are now back in the building which has been extensively checked by engineering experts.
Rolleston is a town in the Selwyn District of Canterbury, just outside the Christchurch City boundary. It was close to the epicenter of the September earthquake last year, but suffered little damage because it sits on very stable rock.
A photograph of rubble from demolished buildings on St Asaph Street. An excavator has been parked on the road in front.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "23 Seabreeze Close, Bexley. Look at the angles in this doorway and the pile of silt".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "23 Seabreeze Close, Bexley. The view through the window shows how much liquefaction collected in the garage".