The Japan Earthquake Swarm

This shows the smaller quakes which were a precursor to the larger magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan.

The Pacific plate also affects New Zealand and both countries are prone to these forces of nature.  Thank goodness though that New Zealand has remained nuclear free. 

The serious reactor problems in Japan threaten to be even more destructive than the earthquake and tsunami.

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Off with their heads!

Yesterday it was announced that the New Zealand government has taken over the management of the Christchurch earthquake disaster from the local city council.

This is not a reflection on the sterling efforts of the Mayor and his elected officials but it does show that the time has come to move on to the larger infrastructure issues that face the city.

More than 60,000 locals have decided not to wait for this decision and have voted with their feet, many vowing never to return.  I can't blame them as just last night there was yet another significant aftershock which will have further jangled already frayed nerves.

There is another battle looming; between those conservationists who are determined to see as much of Christchurch's historic architecture rebuilt as possible and the Minister now responsible for Christchurch (known with distaste by some as "Bulldozer Brownlee") who only sees the Cathedral, Catholic basilica, Provincial Chambers and Art Centre as worthy of a rebuild.

He is quoted as saying that other old buildings would be demolished tomorrow if it was up to him. "While they are part of our past history, they have no place in our future history."

This appears at first glance to a remarkably short-sighted observation given that Christchurch's appeal is its architecture.

While human lives and accommodation must be the main priority it is true that the citizens of the future city need to be protected from heritage buildings that are hazardous.  However this does not mean that all 19th and early 20th century buildings should be bowled over with the exception of the aforementioned.

The defined heritage precincts of Christchurch have taken a battering and many buildings are totally destroyed.  Unlike a medieval town such as Girona in Spain, which has survived natural disasters largely in tact, Christchurch needs to rebuild its core infrastructure and quickly.

Singapore's removed many of the old and largely derelict heritage quarters in its drove for modernisation but if you visit the city you can still see many examples of classic architecture that have been faithfully restored or retained. A makeover of Muscat Street is one of their latest projects.

This is the balance that Christchurch needs to retain.  One can't keep everything but save the best; and the best is more than four buildings.

I see a huge opportunity arising out of the ashes of Christchurch.  In a city known for its architecture why not use the spaces where buildings have had to be demolished for a new wave of New Zealand architecture. Demonstrate what is best about the country's architectural style in the 21st century.

Invite leading NZ architects to participate and turn the city once again into an architectural showcase, this time for the future.

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Shocks and Aftershocks

The most recent 6.3. earthquake in Christchurch was and aftershock from the earlier and larger September 2010 'quake.

Graphic showing location of main shock, aftershocks above magnitude 3, and fault ruptures in Canterbury.
Graphic by Rob Langridge and William Ries, GNS Science

Click on graphic for larger image

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• Scientists at odds over whether quake was aftershock - TVNZ (news.google.com)
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'Quake

The Press Building (1909) now completely destroyed

It is just 24 hours since a second and more devastating earthquake struck Christchurch.  The most horrific revelation in its aftermath has been the loss of life; 75 and climbing.

People are still being pulled alive from collapsed buildings and our small nation is in shock that this could happen not once, but twice, to the Garden City.

As I watch the 24 hour coverage from the safety of my lounge in Auckland I realise also that the city of my childhood and later memories will never exist again as I knew it.

My father came from the suburb of Cashmere in Christchurch, and lived just down from the Sign of the Takahe at 118 Dyers Pass Road.

He attended Christchurch Boy's High School and was passionate about the city and its environment even though he lived most of his adult life elsewhere.

Fond memories of walking hand in hand with my grandfather past the Press Building and the Cathedral in the Square are all that remain today, as both buildings have been irreparably damaged and will never be rebuilt.

The heritage heart of the city is gone - the old Provincial Chambers are partially demolished and aerial views of other sites shows a state of total collapse.

Cathedral Square in 1960 - the spire (circled) came down during the 23 February 'quake

Where trams once rattled through in the late 1950's and newspaper men called from street corners, there is now only dust and vehicles flattened by falling masonry.

Cathedral Square in 1957 - buses not trams, which I used to take to my grandparents house in Cashmere Hills

In the early 1980's when I returned from Papua New Guinea I went to live in Christchurch in the small suburb of Sumner.

This is the same suburb that now features in mobile phone video of falling boulders from the surrounding cliff faces.  Goodness only knows the state of properties on Scarborough Hill where we had a house and which overlooks Sumner Beach?

But of course property can be replaced and lives cannot.  It will be many years before the city recovers but recover it will, as Cantabrians are a stoic bunch and the rest of the country is behind them helping wherever we can.

Related articles

• Christchurch earthquake: what is behind the quake? (telegraph.co.uk)
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• VIDEO: First look inside quake-hit cathedral (bbc.co.uk)
• Christchurch earthquake: Britons tell of chaos in New Zealand city (telegraph.co.uk)
• Christchurch earthquake: at least 65 dead and 100 trapped in 'darkest day' (guardian.co.uk)
• Photos Of New Zealand In Ruins After Massive Quake (huffingtonpost.com)

More NZ Quakes - Interactive Map

This map shows the earthquakes in New Zealand on a daily basis and is a tool developed in collaboration between the Earthquake Commission and GNS Science.

If you left click your mouse and hold it down you can reposition the map.

It graphically demonstrates why and where earthquakes occur, along the major fault lines.

An even better interactive chart with specific reference to the Christchurch quake has been developed by the University of Canterbury.

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• NZ Quake Creates New Faultline (disinfo.com)
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• Sharp series of aftershocks strike New Zealand (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

The Shaky Isles

Yesterday was a black day for New Zealand and more particularly the South Island.  The first inkling I had that their was a calamity was a report of a major earthquake when I switched on the bedside radio to hear the BBC.

A 7.1  quake hit Christchurch just after 4:30am in the morning and flattened a lot of the city.

As the Prime Minister stated later in the day "Parts of the city look like they've been put in a tumble dryer and given a damn good shake. You look at certain parts of the city and down town, it's essentially a ghost town. You can see utter devastation",

The city was lucky on two counts.  Firstly it was early in the morning when the streets were relatively deserted and families were together.  Secondly there appears to have been no fatalities at time of writing.

I rushed to turn on the television but at that time of the morning there were no special reports.  Once again it was the Net and in particular Twitter that kept everybody up to date.  Real time updates from citizen tweeters and bloggers provided excellent coverage while the main stream media struggled to keep up.

As the map shows the country is a mass of active fault lines and the forces generated by the collision of the Pacific and Australian plates are massive.

It is only a question of time before our capital city Wellington is devastated as it sits on more fault lines than any other NZ populated conurbation.  It was therefore a surprise to most, including the geologists, that it was Christchurch that experienced this  major event.

It should however be no surprise at the scale of the damage, as the shingles on which a lot of the city sits are perfect transmitters of energy. Therefore the force of an earthquake spreads easily and causes greater damage and also liquifaction.



Now twenty four hours on, we have comes to realise that this will be a billion dollar cleanup exercise and one of our most serene and English of cities has been changed forever.

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Thoughts From The Shaky Isle

One does not acquaint Singapore with earthquakes but judging on the results of the past week this perception could well change.

We have had two solid tremors felt in various parts of the Republic and all thanks to the major quakes in neighbouring Sumatra, some 530 kilometres away.

Coming as I do from the 'Shaky Isles' of New Zealand I am no stranger to these but the sensation of experiencing an earthquake does not get any more pleasant with age.

We were trained at a very early age to get under a door frame (or failing that a strong table) whenever the ground started to rumble and rock. My Singaporean colleagues however have had no such training, as the look on their faces clearly showed when we experienced the second quake one morning.

Several just sat at their desk with frozen expressions of uncertainty no doubt wondering why I had leapt from my seat and was heading for the nearest door frame.

Suitable door frames are hard to find in Singapore. For a start most buildings are not made with wood and secondly most have partitioned spaces so solid rooms are anything but.

Interestingly given the geology of the country not everyone felt the tremors. The first big Padang 'quake took place without us feeling it in our condo whereas people on the East Coast and Raffles Place felt the full effects and evacuated their buildings.

Another worry must be the reclaimed land upon which a significant part of Singapore is built. Liquefaction is a major destroying force during earthquakes and reclaimed land however well compacted is very prone to this.

The vision of the soon to be launched Integrated Resort (pictured) half submerged would give new meaning to the title of 'Marina Bay Sands'.

I expect through that most new structures have been built to withstand the earthquakes of the strength we might experience here. Fortuitously Singapore does not stand on a major fault line unlike its near neighbour, Indonesia.

It is just a matter of time (and a short time at that by all accounts) that the pent up pressure of the Indian/Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates on the western side of Sumatra will be released in a major 'quake of nine magnitude.

Professor Kerry Sieh of Nanyang University's Earth Observatory has publically stated that the recent quakes are 100 times smaller than the big one when it comes; a less than comforting thought.

Some twenty years ago I saw a map of the faults lines that criss cross New Zealand's capital city Wellington. At the time I raised the question with a colleague "Could an earthquake somewhere else trigger an event in another location"?

"No" was the unequivocal reply, "Such events are very specific to the location".

It would seem now that his analysis was flawed as scientists have recently discovered that the major 2004 earthquake in Sumatra may have weakened the San Andreas fault, 8,000km away in California.

If this is indeed the case being a mere 500 kilometres away from the Big One when it strikes is not that reassuring.

I shall be stocking up on half price moon cakes to tide me over such calamities should they occur in the next fortnight. The Autumn Festival concluded last night and the cakes in question are always heavily discounted after the event.