Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ground shaking
The ground was violently shaken and caused it to rise by up to 1m 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.
SECONDARY EFFECTS
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
SOCIAL IMPACT
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).
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.
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