Magnitude 7.4 Strikes New Zealand

[Peace]

A 7.4 Eartquake has struck near Christchurch, New Zealand


http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/03/usgs-7-4-magnitude-quake-hits-near-new-zealand/?hpt=T1

 

[flopticalcube]

No word yet from my friend who lives in Christchurch. I hope there are no fatalities.

 

[Peace]

I guess power and cellphone coverage is out in Christchurch.

 

[rhett7660]

Damn 7.4. That is freaking huge. Waiting to see how bad the damage and loss of life is going to be.

 

[pukifloyd]

This sucks
I hope the damage was minimal...

 

[iJohnHenry]

The 5 o'clock news, on CBC2, reported that there was some damage, but no deaths reported, at that time.

 

[Broph]

I live in New Plymouth, New Zealand which is probably an hour flight from Christchurch, and I felt it.. It happened at 4.45am. Most buildings are very badly damaged, no deaths, a few serious injuries - one old man had a chimney fall on him.

Biggest earthquake in NZ since 1930.

 

[Ttownbeast]

I wonder if that christian food bank that made news there for not accepting help unless it was from Christians a couple months or so ago will be more willing to reconsider any help they can get--especially considering the possible needed relief efforts.

 

[Santabean2000]

Damn 7.4. That is freaking huge. Waiting to see how bad the damage and loss of life is going to be.

The 5 o'clock news, on CBC2, reported that there was some damage, but no deaths reported, at that time.

Looks a bit like the US military 'liberated' the city.
Lucky it hit at night.

 

[iJohnHenry]

"Welcome your Yankee masters."

 

[R94N]

Saw a report on Sky News this morning. Pretty major damage, although apparently only a few people were hurt and no deaths, luckily. Some parts of the city have flooded with sewage as the pipes have broken

 

[Eraserhead]

Its good that we've progressed far enough that pretty big earthquakes can happen with such a small (or in this case zero) casualties.

 

[Corndog5595]

The Haites one made the length of an earth day a few super small fractions of a fraction of a second longer. I wonder if this one will do the same.

 

[iJohnHenry]

The Haites one made the length of an earth day a few super small fractions of a fraction of a second longer. I wonder if this one will do the same.

OMG, the crust is going to burst!!!!

 

[Ttownbeast]

Its good that we've progressed far enough that pretty big earthquakes can happen with such a small (or in this case zero) casualties.

That's because of decent infrastructure thankfully Both NZ and Chile had very good building practices so the damages were minimal....Haiti on the other hand was ****ed years before the quake even hit--very awful infrastructure there.

The Haites one made the length of an earth day a few super small fractions of a fraction of a second longer. I wonder if this one will do the same.

Evey quake, every eruption, everything in the cosmos has a minuscule slowing effect affect on the Earths rotation by hundredths if not thousandths to even billionths of fractions of a second including the planet itself--this one will likely not effect the 24 hour day we currently enjoy very much, but I am sure it added to the slowing.

OMG, the crust is going to burst!!!!

LOL no worries chicken little your life is a short one you will grow into a big chicken soon enough and be on the menu at KFC

Oddly, I am reminded of a speaker decades back that spoke at a Jr high school assembly I attended as a kid. The dude had Cerebral Palsy he opened with a joke about the condition saying he was born with a kinked umbilical cord which made him a lil bit "kinky"

I liked something he said toward the end of the speech about earthquakes "The only thing I remember about the last earthquake in California, I was there for a speech, and I was walking around all twitchy and wobbly as usual then suddenly everyone else was walking around all twitchy and wobbly! I was starting to feel insulted at first until I realized I was the only one walking like everyone else normally does!"

 

[wbham]

I live in chch, scary stuff.
Not much damage at my place but heaps of things fell of walls and shelves. Been a few decent aftershocks today too.

 

[oblomow]

Just chatted with a buddy who lives there. He and his family are ok, but it's a big mess, and a miracle that no one was killed. Have a look at the photos.

 

[chrono1081]

I wonder if that christian food bank that made news there for not accepting help unless it was from Christians a couple months or so ago will be more willing to reconsider any help they can get--especially considering the possible needed relief efforts.

Wow. That food bank really needs to learn what Christianity really is...

 

[steve2112]

I just found this page today. It's a collection of pics from the quake. It seems like the server is getting hammered and there are a bunch of pics, so it may take a while to load. Check out the pics here.

 

[rrk310]

The mobile network stayed up so we were able to see what was happening across town on the iPad & iPhone; and respond to emails from the US that arrived in under an hour of the main quake

 

[yg17]

7.0 earthquake in large, populated city in Haiti: Hundreds of thousands dead, city is reduced to rubble
7.4 earthquake in large, populated city New Zealand: Zero dead, some damage, mostly minor, and the city isn't a total loss

It's amazing what building codes and some of that "evil big government regulation" can do

 

[flopticalcube]

7.0 earthquake in large, populated city in Haiti: Hundreds of thousands dead, city is reduced to rubble
7.4 earthquake in large, populated city New Zealand: Zero dead, some damage, mostly minor, and the city isn't a total loss

It's amazing what building codes and some of that "evil big government regulation" can do

Having buildings made of wood rather than cinder block helps too!

 

[Ttownbeast]

Having buildings made of wood rather than cinder block helps too!

Cinder block is perfectly fine building material when used correctly though.

 

[Mac Kiwi]

I think it was revised to 7.1 in the end.


My cousin in Christchuch had a crystal bowl close to her bed explode with the sonic vibration / pressure wave or similar. She was lucky she only got a small cut on her finger out of it.


I am waiting to see how insurance companies are going to try and get out of claims. I am sure it will happen.


Some of the after shocks have been in the 5 range also.

 

[MacManiac777]

News from the ground

I'm from Bexley (Christchurch) NZ. We are in one of the worst hit areas in the Canterbury Region. Seabreeze Close and Kokopu Lane have been hit really hard and the houses are sinking into the ground (we are too but not as bad). We have had over 300 aftershocks and they are still measuring 4+

Some of the damage from our yard and surrounding ground:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3138906/Website/video/earthquake/fence_to_garden.mov
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3138906/Website/video/earthquake/front_section_to_garage.mov
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3138906/Website/video/earthquake/shed_to_garage.mov

The University of Canterbury has been hit quite hard, many facilities will not be operational for an extended period of time: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/recovery/photos/

The following map of the earthquakes is quite interesting to watch: http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/