Christchurch earthquake

Earthquake topples Christchurch Cathedral's spire, one of many collapsed buildings across New Zealand's second largest city. Photograph: Mark Mitchell/AP

10.15am: This video from stuff.nz walks through the centre of Christchurch, showing buckled roads, a devastated Christchurch cathedral and collapsed buildings.

The spire of the cathedral has collapsed into the square below, while major structural damage is shown to buildings in the city, with some almost completely collapsed.

The video shows a man and woman being rescued from a building by onlookers and rescue workers.

10.01am/11.01pm NZ: Australian experts at the Australian science media centre have released a useful q&a on the Christchurch quake. Here's a sample.

Dr Gideon Rosenbaum, a lecturer in the School of Earth Sciences, at the University of Queensland, explains the seriousness of a 6.3 earthquake.

    "A magnitude 6.3 earthquake can be devastating in one place and quite harmless in another. It depends on many factors. Most important is the distance of the epicentre from populated areas. As far as I understand, the earthquake today was shallower and closer to Christchurch in comparison to the September earthquake. The type of rocks in the affected areas are also very important. Hard rocks are stronger and more resistant, whereas soft rocks, particularly if wet, can amplify the seismic effect (a process called liquefaction). I think that Christchurch is built on silt that was affected by this process."

Dr Gary Gibson, principal research fellow in the School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, on the strength of the quake.

    "This is by far the largest earthquake to have occurred in the Christchurch region in historic time. Earthquakes larger than magnitude 6.0, usually deeper than this event, occur about annually in New Zealand, including one of magnitude 7.8 that occurred in the remote southwest of South Island in July 2009 with little damage."

As for the frequency of quakes to hit New Zealand, Gibson says:

    "New Zealand is more prone to earthquakes because it is on the plate boundary and has many plate boundary earthquakes. Large earthquakes occur infrequently in Australia. In all of Australia a magnitude 6.0 or larger event occurs on average every ten years. In the capital cities of Australia, a nearby magnitude 6.0 will occur on average every few thousand years. All earthquakes in Australia are at shallow depth, similar to those in about Christchurch."

9.50am/ 10.50pm NZ: The stuff.co.nz website carries several eyewitness accounts of the quake.

    Australian tourists Gwendoline and Ian Robinson were halfway through their lunchtime bagels when the windows in the Christchurch cafe began shattering. "Things started sliding and you could hear it crashing and you looked around and things were just falling everywhere so it was just really strange," Mrs Robinson, 66, said. "You were being shaken backwards and forwards, side to side ... everything was moving in different directions." She sheltered under the table with her 70-year-old husband. "It just kept going and going and there was glass and everything sliding everywhere and things falling and windows breaking," she said.

9.34am/ 10.43pm NZ: Some good news via the live feed from Sky News, where it's been reported that 125 people have been rescued from the debris. On a grimmer note, entire suburbs are said to be "unlivable" and people have had to take shelter at civil defence posts because so much accommodation is unsafe. It's raining in Christchurch, which does not make things any easier.

9.30am/10.30pm NZ: The earthquake has had effects elsewhere in New Zealand as the Associated Press reports.

    The earthquake that struck Christchurch has caused some 30 million tons of ice to break off from New Zealand's biggest glacier. Tour guides at the Tasman Glacier in the Southern Alps say the quake caused the ice to "calve" from the glacier, forming icebergs in the terminal lake. Tourists of Glacier Explorer boats say the icefall caused waves of up to 3.5 metres in height which swept up and down the lake for 30 minutes. The glacier is about 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Christchurch on the west coast. The powerful earthquake struck Christchurch on Tuesday, toppling tall buildings and churches, crushing buses and killing at least 65 people.

9.24am/10.24 NZ: A missing person's finder has been set up seemingly with Google's help and Crowdmap is being used to plot medical emergencies, hazard zones and support services (you can also set up alerts to be notified when info is added to this page).

9.20am/10.20pm: ScottNZ in the comments section describes how he felt the quake in Wellington, 189 miles from Christchurch.

    Im in Wellington and felt it at my desk. A colleague of mine was on a day work trip, though she is safe as are friends I have there and the friends and families of others I know. Of course others again have not been so lucky. The news coverage is just so surreal looking at the damage, especially to a landmark building like the cathedral. September's quake was bad enough and it was a miracle there wasnt loss of life. This second blow is scarcely believable.

9.11am/10.11pm NZ: Emmey in the comments below has this observation about the emotional as well as physical toll.

    It's been so surreal - spread by text news here in Auckland what had happened. In the space of about 10 minutes it went from one confirmed death, to 17, to 64, and now 65. Biggest disaster in living memory - unconfirmed report just announced that deathtoll is now at 2-400. The newsreaders are having such difficulties presenting the news without their voices shaking, and eyewitnesses, even now, 9 hours on, are shaking and traumatised. Wish that I lived closer so I could give a hand, or lend my place to stay at, or anything. Theres just so much rubble everywhere, and dust and distress. And new aftershocks every hour of a high magnitude. It's just surreal.

9.04am/10.04pm NZ: The New Zealand Herald website has live coverage of the aftermath of the quake. It has just reported that Air New Zealand has reduced domestic airfares in and out of Christchurch to $50 for those who book before Friday.

8.52am/9.52pm NZ: The news.com.au website has before and after pictures of the quake, including photos of Christchurch cathedral, a landmark of Christchurch that has been a part of the city for nearly 150 years.

8.48am/9.48pm NZ: The US Geological Survey says the quake that struck Christchurch is the biggest aftershock since the September quake.

    Since the September 3, 2010 mainshock, there have been approximately 6 M>=5.0 aftershocks in the Christchurch region. The February 21st earthquake represents the largest aftershock to date, more that half a magnitude unit larger than the previous largest aftershock.

8.39am/9.39pm NZ: This is eerie CCTV footage from the basement of a store hit by the September quake and not the latest one. Thanks to andfeax for pointing that out.




8.29am/9.29pm NZ: Here are some eyewitness quotes from the Associated Press

    Nathanael Boehm, a web designer, said he was standing near a tram track when the quake struck, sending the eaves of buildings cascading onto the street below.
    "It was horrific. People were covered in rubble, covered in several tons of concrete," Boehm said, adding that he believed some of them had been crushed to death.
    Gary Moore said he and 19 other colleagues were trapped in their twelfth floor office after the stairwell collapsed in the quake. He did not know if people on other floors were trapped.
    "We watched the cathedral collapse out our window while we were holding onto the walls," Moore said. "Every aftershock sends us rushing under the desks. It's very unnerving but we can clearly see there are other priorities out the window. There has been a lot of damage and I guess people are attending to that before they come and get us."

8.23am/9.23pm NZ: The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has expressed his condolences.

"I was shocked and saddened to hear of the devastating earthquake that struck Christchurch earlier today, killing so many people. The ties that bind the UK with New Zealand are very close and my thoughts are with the friends and families of all those who have lost their lives and been affected by the earthquake. Many people in the UK with links to New Zealand will be watching anxiously as the situation develops. Our high commissioner in New Zealand is on her way to Christchurch and we stand ready to provide any assistance that we can to the authorities and to any British nationals who have been caught up in the earthquake."

8.18am/9.18pm NZ: This is video of scenes just outside Christchurch, where a huge rock crushes a building.



7.44am/8.44pm NZ:
New Zealand's second largest city has been hit by a strong earthquake, measuring 6.3 in magnitude. At least 65 people are dead. This is the second earthquake in five months to hit the region, with a 7.1 magnitude quake in September last year which caused widespread damage but there were no deaths. You can follow live TV coverage here and read our latest news story on what happened when the quake hit.

As night falls in Christchurch this is the situation so far.

• 65 people are confirmed dead and more deaths are expected as rescuers comb through the rubble in Christchurch's centre after a 6.3-magnitude shock hit the city during lunch hour

• Emergency crews are working through the night to reach the 100 to 200 people thought to still be trapped inside collapsed buildings

• Tourists were said to have been in the tower of Christchurch Cathedral when it collapsed, and they are feared dead

• Power and water supplies have been cut off within most of the city, with an evacuation from the city centre being ordered

• Towns outside Christchurch closer to the centre of the earthquake are also said to be devastated


source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/

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