Country: New Zealand, MEDC, Oceania

Date & Time: 22nd February 2011 12:51pm

New Zealand is located in the Pacific Ocean in the
continent of Oceania. Its aprox. 1,300 miles South
East of Australia and consists of a North and South
Island. The capital city is Wellington.
Christchurch was 6km NW of epicentre.
Earthquakes duration: 10 seconds
In New Zealand, the Australian and Pacific Plates push
against each other along a curving boundary.

At the southern end of the South Island, the Australian Plate

dives down (subducts) below the Pacific Plate whilst in the
North Island the opposite situation occurs with the Pacific
Plate being pushed under by the Australian Plate.

In between, through most of the South Island, the two

plates grind past each other along the Alpine Fault.

Christchurch
The earthquake occurred on a conservative plate margin
where the Pacific Plate slid past the Australian Plate in
the opposite direction. It was technically an aftershock
from a larger earthquake in 2010 but the impacts were
more severe.
Ground shaking
The ground was violently shaken and caused it to rise by up to 1 metre in
places.

Liquefaction
When the ground was shaken, the water was brought to the surface and
this made the ground very soft and everything from buildings to roads to
cars and trees sunk into the ground. Sand boils were the most common
type of liquefaction in this earthquake.

Slope failure
Part of the countrys longest glacier was broken off creating a large iceberg
(size of 20 football fields)
Significant landslides and rock falls in the Port Hills in the southern part of
Christchurch were reported.

Tsunami:
3.5m (11ft) tsunami waves in Tasman Lake, following quake-triggered
glacier calving from Tasman Glacier.
Building/infrastructure failure
Many had been weakened by the 2010 earthquake and although many survived that
earthquake, they were destroyed by the 2011 earthquake.
All types of buildings were affected and even some modern earthquake-proof buildings
succumbed to the quake.

Fire
A collapsed building at Kings education in Christchurch had to be extinguished in order to
recue people trapped inside.

Water shortage/contamination
Water & sewage pipes were ruptured during the quake and this allowed them to mix and
contaminate the water.
As a result, lots of bottled water had to be supplied to people with no access to clean water.

Exposure/housing
Thousands of people had to move out of their homes as it was unsafe for them to stay as
their homes may have been weakened by the quake and could collapse in an aftershock.

There were no reports of famine or disease

Loss of social amenities e.g. schools
The earthquake closed 419 early childhood education centres (ECEs), 215 primary and secondary schools in the
Selwyn, Waimakariri, and Christchurch City school districts, and leading tertiary institutions including Canterbury and
Lincoln Universities.
Out of 161 school damage assessments, there was minor damage to 107 schools (affecting 31,074 students), medium
damage to 35 (affecting 15,423 students), and major damage to 19 (affecting 9,695 students).

Increased social inequalities

The Canterbury earthquakes struck at a time of deep social and economic vulnerability. As a country, New Zealand had
experienced the highest growth of social inequality in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in
20 years.

Change of risk perception

The Structural Engineers Society of New Zealand has recommended that the 500-year elastic design spectrum for
Christchurch be amplified by 136% for periods less than 1.5 sec, pending further research, to address the increased risk
of M 6-6.5 events close to the CBD.

Search for blame

Many people have blamed the Pacific Ring of Fire for the earthquake, however some people blamed the countrys gay
and lesbian community for causing the quake due to their amoral behaviour.

Effects on the strength of the community

Community came together to attempt to rebuild the city and clear up the mess left behind from the earthquake.
Volunteers helped clear up the silt left behind from liquefaction.
Costs of repairs to infrastructure
$40billion worth of damage was needed to repair the infrastructure

Insurance costs
It costs homeowners a small fraction of the sum insured, and provides protection of up to NZ$100,000
for a dwelling (building), NZ$20,000 for contents, and an amount for the land on which the dwelling is
situated.

Losses to business/industry
Christchurch could no longer host Rugby World Cup matches so lost the benefits of its income. The
tourism industry also suffered as a result.

Losses to employment
There were about 6,000 companies and/or institutions with over 50,000 employees in the CBD, or 25%
of the total employment in the city. Of the 50,000 employees, 45% are in government, health care, or
professions; these workers are likely to retain their jobs in another location. The other employees are in
a variety of sectors including hotels, restaurants, retail, manufacturing, construction, wholesale,
transport, communication, finance, insurance, and recreation; many in this group, especially those in
tourism, will be unemployed.

Losses to international trade

The number of guests to hotels in Christchurch fell by over 75% after the earthquake hit.
Number of deaths and injuries
181 people were killed and around 2,000 people were injured
80 people alone died when the Christchurch TV building
collapsed.

Changes in population settlement patterns/densities

After the earthquake, there was a sharp increase in the number of
people who left Christchurch as well as a drop in the number of
people arriving from outside the city.

Long and short-term migration

In the short-term, people moved out of the city until the damage was
repaired and then the majority of them moved back in. There were
no significant long term impacts.
Hazard-resistant design (hint: consider existing and future buildings)
Damaged buildings had different coloured cards placed on them to indicate how damaged they were (Green:
Safe, through to Red: Unsafe, must be demolished).
Earthquake commission funds Geonet it also funds programs for people Quakesafe their homes
The AMI stadium has been reinforced by 10m stone columns which can stop liquefaction.

Development of the earthquake prediction systems

Geonet detects and monitors earthquakes can provide emergency services with info within a few minutes of
an earthquake.

Community education and preparedness

In New Zealand regular earthquake drills are carried out to ensure people know what to do. Plus all buildings
are made life safe ensure that they will not collapse in case of an earthquake. Any old buildings have been
retrofitted to withstand future earthquakes.

Land-use planning
Homes are no longer being rebuilt in seismically dangerous zones. The government has instigated purchases of
both land and houses in high risk zones and works with insurance companies to accelerate safe recovery
(Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, 2012).

Aid
St Johns ambulance had 16 ambulances operational within half an hour of the quake.
International aid was provided in the form of money (around $6-7 million) and aid workers.

Insurance
$898 million has been paid in building claims