Christchurch's Earthquake

We arrived in Christchurch the day after the February 22, 2011 earthquake.  Ours was the second plane to land at the airport (it had been closed after the quake); the Taiwanese Search and Rescue Team was also on our flight.  It made for an interesting baggage claim as all their gear was in large orange crates.  We arrived to an airport full of people in shock.  Most were tourists trying to get out; many having to go to Wellington to get new passports before leaving the country.  Ceiling tiles were on the floor, but it mostly looked intact.  Nets placed under the glass ceiling seemed to have been in place from the earlier earthquake in September 2010.

Our hostel was just outside the heavily damaged Central Business District.  The hostel was an old jailhouse and all the guests had left.  A chimney was crumpled and the right side of the building was off limits.  As we were picking up a camper van early the next morning, the management let us stay for the night (about 7 hours), but we stayed on the upper floor and kept our heavy steel door propped open, just in case the aftershocks got dramatic.  It was a restless night.  We experienced a 4.6 aftershock at the rental agency, waiting to pick up our van the following morning....that was as close to an earthquake as I hope we ever get.

We seriously considered canceling our trip, but had non-refundable airline tickets and had paid a hefty deposit on our camper van, which would enable us to be outside of the disaster zone.  Since our flight was not cancelled, we brought some bottled water and hopped on the plane. Once on the South Island, we considered sticking around Christchurch, and offering our assistance.  After hearing authorities urge everyone to leave town if they could (to keep the roads clear and minimize demands on the devastated water and sewer systems), we headed out to explore the islands.  

We're very glad we got the chance to see New Zealand, but the heart breaking losses of the earthquake permeated every aspect of our visit.  To add insult to terrestrial injury, a few days before leaving NZ, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan occurred.  As for everyone at home, it was heart wrenching to watch the television coverage.  We left NZ feeling a bit vulnerable as we headed back to our seemingly small boat and the vagaries of natural forces and oceans.

Below are some pictures we took in the Christchurch area.  Most are self explanatory.

The grey matter is liquifaction; sand and silt that boiled up from underground.

There is a woman in a yellow jacket on top of this pile of rubble, obviously going through it  looking for something.  Given the state of this rubble, we think this was the result of the September 2010 earthquake.