New Zealand Local Weather Forum
Weather Discussion => Historical => Topic started by: JennyLeez on September 04, 2012, 09:43:03 AM
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2 years ago today a Magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked Canterbury
The earthquake struck at 4.35 a.m. on Saturday 4 September and was felt by many people in the South Island and the southern North Island. There was considerable damage in central Canterbury, especially in Christchurch, but no loss of life.
It was the largest earthquake to affect a major urban area since the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake. As the epicentre was 37 km west of Christchurch near the town of Darfield, this event is often called the Darfield earthquake, although it is more widely known as the Canterbury earthquake. As a relatively shallow quake – about 10 km below the surface of the Canterbury Plains – it produced the strongest shaking to have been recorded in New Zealand.
The fact that no one was killed and few people sustained serious injuries was due largely to the time the quake occurred, with most people in bed and the streets largely deserted.
The people of Christchurch would not be so lucky a few months later when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the area on Tuesday 22 February 2011. This event occurred in the middle of the working day at 12.51 p.m. Christchurch was badly damaged, 182 people were killed and several thousand injured. This time the epicentre was near Lyttelton, just 10 km south-east of Christchurch’s central business district.
Image: car under rubble in central Christchurch, by Ross Becker.
See more of his images of the September earthquake.... (https://picasaweb.google.com/RossBeckerNZ/2010SeptemberCanterburyEarthquake)
New Zealand History Online. (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/page/magnitude-7-1-earthquake-rocks-canterbury)
(http://nzpws.net/nzwn/reports/cant2010.jpg)
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Quake homeowners unhappy with EQC - survey
Two years on from the first Canterbury earthquake, half of Christchurch's earthquake-damaged homeowners are unhappy with the performance of the Earthquake Commission and private insurers.
At 4.35am, September 4, 2010, a 7.1 earthquake struck Darfield, causing massive damaging across the region, but fortunately no fatalities.
Since then, thousands of quakes have rattled the region, the most damaging a magnitude 6.3 on February 22 last year, which claimed 185 lives.
Over the past two years, EQC has undertaken inspections at 461,081 properties across the region, however thousands of homeowners are unhappy with the pay-out process.
On Saturday, 300 Canterbury residents protested the lack of action by the authorities and insurance companies in an empty lot near Christchurch City Council Headquarters, while the Quake Outcasts, a group of red-zoned homeowners, will today present a petition to Labour MP Lianne Dalziel highlighting concerns over property rights.
A Christchurch Press-commissioned survey found 50 per cent of owners of earthquake damaged homes are not pleased with the EQC's performance, with half of those either "very" or "extremely" dissatisfied with the EQC.
Only 29 per cent responded they were "very" or "extremely" satisfied.
EQC Canterbury events manager Reid Stiven acknowledged poor communication was the commission's biggest issue.
"We've acknowledged from day one that . . . our ability to communicate and get information out to our customers was poor," Mr Stiven told the Press. "Absolutely we've made some mistakes, but we don't sit on our hands."
Mayor Bob Parker told TV3's Firstline the issues appear to be at the "interface" of EQC and the private insurances companies.
"We are encouraging those organisations to solve those problems," he said.
Meanwhile the EQC is to prioritise repairs so that the sick and elderly in Christchurch are seen to more quickly.
The commission has seconded a person from another government agency to formalise a policy to prioritise repairs for those who are chronically ill or over a certain age.
Mr Stiven told Newstalk ZB that person will collate data from a welfare agency and compare it with that collected by EQC.
"Now what we're going to do is through the feature programme, ensure that 100 of those people have their homes repaired every month."
Mr Stiven would not reveal the age of eligibility they are looking at until the process is formalised.
- Herald Online, Newstalk ZB
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10831577 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10831577)
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Geonet reports today that in these past 2 years '11200 have been located.'
Almost unbelievable!!!
(http://nzpws.net/nzwn/reports/cant2010_2.jpg)