MAJOR earthquake in New Zealand

[Locutus of Bored]

I'm glad to hear all of our TBBS New Zealanders (and I'm hoping all your families and friends) are okay.

The devastation and loss of life are horrific. Those before and after pictures are awful. So many lives and so much history lost.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Damn.

 

[Niorah]

That's awful news! I just found out.

Hope the toll doesn't rise from the 65 confirmed thus far. That's already a lot.

 

[Candlelight]

That's awful news! I just found out.

Hope the toll doesn't rise from the 65 confirmed thus far. That's already a lot.

There are still over 100 unaccounted for in the collapsed buildings. Also, many rescuers this morning said they were finding bodies in the rubble but leaving them there in favour of carrying on looking for anyone alive.

I think it'll be around the 300 mark, which would put it higher than our worst Earthquake disaster of 1931, when 253 people died in Napier.

 

[TerokNor]

Oh man...so many dead.

Isn´t there something like an early-warning system or so, so that people at least can get out of the buildings and run somewhere save?

TerokNor

 

[Niorah]

^ Not that I know of, that's why earthquakes always leave such devastation and human loss behind them.

Candlelight, that's just terrible.

 

[Orac Zen]

I think Candlelight in Dunedin is the only Trekbbs member who lives on the South Island.

StarMan is from Christchurch, although I think he now lives in Melbourne.

He's still in Christchurch (his most recent posts certainly indicate as much). He moved over here at one point, but he returned to NZ very shortly afterward. Hopefully he and his family and friends are okay.

I really have no words for this. It's just heartbreaking.

 

[Candlelight]

Oh man...so many dead.

Isn´t there something like an early-warning system or so, so that people at least can get out of the buildings and run somewhere save?

TerokNor

New Zealand has a reputation of having the most Earthquake proof cities in the world. Our Earthquake Commission requires, by law, a level of standard in house and building construction, given we live on the edge of the Ring of Fire. That, allied with good earthquake education in schools helps whenever disaster strikes.

This is why in the September quake, which was 7.1 on the scale, no one died.

Sadly, that quake severely weakened the buildings, so this earthquake (or aftershock of the original, depending on who you talk to) didn't need much to shatter what was already damaged.

 

[Miss Chicken]

From what I heard this quake might have measured less on the scale but it was closer to the surface and its epicenter closer to Christchurch than the September quake. The people in Christchurch have said that it felt more powerful than the previous quake.

 

[PlixTixiplik]

That looks correct from the shakemaps. The 2010 earthquake had a similar intensity near the epicenter (it was stronger but deeper) but the epicenter was much further from Christchurch. The peak ground acceleration in Christchurch itself was around 4-6 times greater in yesterday's quake than in September's.

 

[Candlelight]

September 2010 - 7.1, 30km deep, 30km away
February 2011 - 6.3, 5km deep, 10km away

Our company just had a meeting to put together a strategy if it happens here. Our building is apparently built like a brick shit house so hopefully it'll withstand a decent sized quake.

Hope we never see one at all, but...

 

[RJDiogenes]

Seventy-five are dead, with hundreds still missing.

The devastation is unbelievable....

 

[Technomage]

Bad news, it looks like the tallest building in Christchurch is on the verge of collapsing! It's not tall by world standards (26 stories) but it's big by local standards.

Here's a picture of the hotel: CLICK HERE

 

[Technomage]

The hotel has been evacuated though!

 

[Trilliam]

The hotel has been evacuated though!

I was about to ask if they had gotten every one out of there. Australasia has sure been copping a beating from Mother Nature over the last 9 months or so.

 

[Technomage]

They showed the hotel on TV and it's got a bad slump on one side, so it's definitely going to have to be demolished even if it does manage to remain standing!

 

[Candlelight]

It's shifted a metre in the last 10 minutes.

 

[Candlelight]

I used to walk past that building every day when I lived there in 1997/1998.

So sad.

 

[StarMan]

I think Candlelight in Dunedin is the only Trekbbs member who lives on the South Island.

StarMan is from Christchurch, although I think he now lives in Melbourne.

He's still in Christchurch (his most recent posts certainly indicate as much). He moved over here at one point, but he returned to NZ very shortly afterward. Hopefully he and his family and friends are okay.

I really have no words for this. It's just heartbreaking.

Hi.

Yes, still live in Christchurch. Currently holidaying in Surfers Paradise till next Wednesday.

Holidaying. Yeah. Went to Draculas last night as part of our prepaid package. Me and my mate left half way through it. This does not feel like a holiday anymore.

Loved ones are fine. Not easy getting thru to anyone at the moment.

What I'm seeing on sky news is absolutely gutting. I feel like I should be there. The loss of life and the scale of destruction will have an irrevocable impact on the city. This will define Christchurch. The Cathedral is gone - doesn't get more iconic than that.

From our contact with loved ones properties are fucked everywhere.

All too much. This will not be easy. Time for courage.

 

[MANT!]

Yes perhaps you can cancel what remains of your vacation and when the airport's opened, go in and assist...