Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: galahad on September 04, 2010, 10:59:18 AM
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just checking that all of our South Island friends are OK. Particularly those in inland Canterbury
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10671049&gallery_id=113677#7073686 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10671049&gallery_id=113677#7073686)
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Looks like Lesley should have been outside the damage zone - also my brother and his family up at Golden Bay would have felt it but should have been well outside the damage zone.
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Just reading about this on today's newspaper and hope all is well with our friends there. Hope to hear from them soon.
Paddy
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Ross, you were much closer than I, and all I felt was my bed shaking backwards and forward just after 4.30am, as I was about to get up to go to work. It was felt as far south as Invercargill but the damage confined to Christchuuch and the area west of the city, as far west as Darfield. Kaiapoi, where Joan Whillans lives (many Forumists will know her) was badly hit and so far I've had no reply to an email but power and other services although restored to most areas incredibly quickly, are still out in some places.
With just two exceptions, injuries to people were minor and no deaths, thank goodness.
I don't think Christchurch has ever been thought of as an earthquake area (Wellington is all the time waiting for it's "big one") so it was a surprise to those of us who felt it but assumed it would have originated in Fiordland or the West Coast, where there are many small quakes each year, but usually in regions of low or nil population so they go un-noticed by the general public.
Also yesterday, a plane crash near the Fox Glacier on the West Coast, killing all nine people aboard, so not a good day for the South Island.
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Lesley, good to hear all is well with you and also very good to hear there have been no fatalities. Read of the 'plane crash and saw that an Irishman was among those involved.
NZ Earthquake photographs: http://www.thenational.ae/section/multimedia?profile=1314
Paddy
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The aftershocks are driving me nuts.
There is a 7pm-7am curfew in the city and quite a few areas still cordoned off as some of the buildings could collapse with the aftershocks
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The damage looks terrible - it's remarkable there were no fatalities.
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Yes Paddy, 5 NZers along with an Irishman, an Englishman, an Australian and a German. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, bit it was NOT funny. It was a plane used to take skydivers.
Christchurch's problems are compounded today with gale force north-west winds and heavy rain predicted. For us in Dunedin too but of course we haven't the underlying problem to contend with.
I saw a TV picture of two young girls sitting on the edge of a crevasse in a road and thought of one of my childhood nightmare, of the earth opening to swallow me.
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The damage looks terrible - it's remarkable there were no fatalities.
I suppose the timing was a factor there Anne. Most sensible people are still in bed at 4.30am. I believe most injuries were home-related. One woman cut her feet on broken glass from a mirror, when she went into the bathroom, with no power/light. Had it happened mid day in the centre ciry there would have been many more and perhaps fatal injuries as masonry fell. I heard one old building fell in on itself totally, like New York's twin towers. And many of the city's heritage buildings, of which Christchurch is rightly very proud as they are quite beautiful, were damaged.
We've felt no after shocks this far south Ross.
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Someone made a valid point. There was less damage at the epicentre (Darfield) than there was in Christchurch partly because Darfield is built on rock whereas Christchurch is all sand and swamp
The wind is getting pretty bad now :-(
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Managed to speak with Doug ,(Kiwi)--he and family are safe.
He lives near Kaiapoi one of the worst affected areas and his house and property have taken a 'hit' so it will be a while before he is back on the forum.
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My brother's house in Kaiapoi will need to be demolished
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all the best to members there, hope damage is soon repaired!
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Relieved to hear that folks are safe, despite what appears from TV pics over here to be devastation of public buildings and infrastructure. From these islands where seismic activity is at such a low level, it's very difficult to appreciate what those affected are going through. Hopefully, the necessities of a modern society can be restored quickly and people can begin to rebuild their lives. Best wishes to all.
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We have seen all the damage caused by the quake very pleased to hear that all our friends are O/K. We are to visit South Island in November we do intend to come despite the quake meybe we will meet up with some members when we do come, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Have talked to a friend in Rangiora north and east of of the epicentre who is OK - he did not lose services at all even though Kaiapoi not far away but nearer the coast was hammered. Soft sediments tend to liquefy during and earthquake with devastating consequences to any structure built on them. People were talking about water disappearing from ponds, appearing elsewhere and " mud volcanoes ". Brick masonry construction has no strength in an earthquake and these buildings suffered as well. Timber-framed houses perform pretty well as do modern engineered buildings.
The fault that ruptured causing the quake was completely unknown unlike many of the major faults in New Zealand (eg the Alpine fault) and in this respect a quake so close to Christchurch was unexpected. Wellington is built on a major fault line. However no place in New Zealand is totally safe from earthquakes.
I slept through the entire thing though many of my neighbours were woken by it. However this evening we lost power for several hours due to strong north westerly winds. I also lost some trees in my garden. In this respect we have got off very lightly compared to our friends in Christchurch who will be dealing with the same storm.
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So glad to hear that at least all "our" NZLders are ok !!! :D
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So glad to hear that at least all "our" NZLders are ok !!! :D
So am I !! :D
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Looking at the photos it's hard to believe tha relatively few people were badly hurt and no one died. Thank goodness that it struck in the early hours of the morning and so people were at home in bed and not in the street or office blocks.
Thinking of those Forumists and others whose homes were devastated and hoping all will be repaired without delay.
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I had an email from Edna Parkyn who posts in the Aroid thread sometimes. Although she and her family are fine, their house contents are badly damaged, contents of the pantry smashed and broken, ornaments smashed, furniture broken etc. They have a water tank as well as town supply so are OK for that I think, and - having her priorities right - she says her troughs, pots and plants she will have on the weekend of 18th/19th at NZAGS Spring Show, are all fine too, including little bulbs.
There are still many broken water and sewer pipes being discovered so there's a lot to be done yet and still having aftershocks. Apparently the winds they were expecting were not so bad as predicted fortunately. Like David, we here have lost a few trees, eucalypts mainly and branches from the pines. Our temp today will be a max of 11C whereas it's set to be 21C in Christchurch, just 200 miles up the coast.
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Caught up with Stuart Murray this morning. Stuart lives at Kaiapoi which was one of the worst affected areas. Stuart is fine and has not suffered significant damage apart from losing some of his clay pots. He says the NZAGS spring show will be going ahead.
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Here is a link to Geonet showing the fault an aerial photos of the fault trace. You can see the offset by the displacement of the irrigation ditches and shelter belts.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html (http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html)
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Glad to know you guys are okay over there!
We're having floods in Central Victoria at the moment :o - the locusts are due next month! ;)
I guess we are "living in interesting times'!
cheers
fermi
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Family all fit and healthy, property a bit smashed around. A totally surreal experience.
The community has really come together and supported each other. No drainage or sewage here for at least one month! It's going to be a testing time. On the bright side some beautiful flowers came out today to lift the spirits like this Magnolia "Black Tulip", Narcissus "Rapture" and Erythronium "white beauty"
Life goes on!
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Wow, that Magnolia is a stunning colour. It appears that some semblance of 'normality' is creeping in with the go-ahead for the NZAGS spring show ;D ;D Good luck and enjoy the occasion.
Back to the old days of the 'earth closet', I suppose (Not that I'm old enough to have had personal experience though....). Yes, it would perhaps make one appreciate the accepted niceties of modern living. We perhaps sometimes take such things for granted and that many people in the world do not have such facilities as potable water supplies and flushing toilets.
David, many thanks for the link to the geonet site. Amazing pictures of the surface ruptures along this fault trace. Such pristine features usually deteriorate rapidly and are rarely recorded so well. In this case it's as though the fault had 'read all the text-books' ... all the features present that theory would predict. ::) ::)
PS some of my colleagues were asking what the tall narrow trees are that form the shelter belts in some of these photos?
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Welcome, welcome, welcome Doug. So pleased you are all OK as we'd heard some mixed tales. I hope things can be sorted for you and your family ASAP. Just for once the Govt seems to be willing to dive in and help and there is apparently no shortage of money. As much as is needed will be made available.
It says a lot about the gardener's spirit that you have taken the time to make pictures of what is in the garden while surrounded by devastation. I wish you and all Christchurch gardeners, very well.
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Dave, Canterbury's shelter belts are usually of Lombardy poplar or Pinus radiata or Cupressus macrocarpa. Canterbury has terrible nor'west winds though the year really but especially so at the spring and autumn equinoxes and without the shelter belts, there would be no soil at all left on the Canterbury Plains. Years ago I was driving to Lyttleton to meet the ferry that my soon-to-be-husband was returning on from Malaysia via his army camp in the North Island. It was about 4 in the morning I think, and dark. Suddenly a great cloud of silt and dust hit me and totally killed my car lights. I lost control of the car and ended up, still upright, in a paddock on the other side of the road and facing back the way I had come. A paddock on the western side of the road had been newly ploughed and disced and literally, the whole surface was blown off it. I still look at that paddock every time I pass it and think how lucky I was that it was early morning and almost no traffic on what is the main No1 highway up and down the whole country.
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David, many thanks for the link to the geonet site. Amazing pictures of the surface ruptures along this fault trace. Such pristine features usually deteriorate rapidly and are rarely recorded so well. In this case it's as though the fault had 'read all the text-books' ... all the features present that theory would predict. ::) ::)
PS some of my colleagues were asking what the tall narrow trees are that form the shelter belts in some of these photos?
Dave,
Several of my geologist friends are up in Canterbury at the moment looking at the fault trace. Doubtless they are having a very interesting time as the fault that moved was completely unknown before it ruptured on Saturday morning. A geologist interviewed on the radio earlier this morning gave the following explanation; In effect New Zealand sits astride the Australasian and Pacific plates which move relative to each other. The strains set up by this motion are relieved by movements along the major faults (eg the Alpine Fault) but additional stresses can be set up at locations more distant to the major faults delineating the plate boundaries. Ruptures can occur at these locations as happened on Saturday morning.
The Geonet site shows maps of shallow and deep earthquakes recorded in New Zealand over the last 10 years. The deep earthquakes tend to be associated with the plate boundary whereas the shallow earthquakes are more widely dispersed. There is large region of the alpine fault in the middle of the South Island that has shown very little deep earthquake activity over the past 10 years. This would imply that this section of the Alpine Fault is locked at present. Because of this stresses might accumulate in the rocks further east which could eventually rupture as occurred on Saturday.
Judging by the shadows the shelter belts in the photos are poplars.
Doug,
Good to see that you are back on line. Judging by the photos you posted you might have a few problems to deal with. All the best for the upcoming weeks.
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I heard on the radio today that some farms have cracks a metre wide and several metres deep and that boundry fences and buildings have moved up to 4 metres from their original positions.
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That must pose interesting legal questions as to who owns what ???
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Glad to know you guys are okay over there!
We're having floods in Central Victoria at the moment :o - the locusts are due next month! ;)
I guess we are "living in interesting times'!
cheers
fermi
Crumbs! Locust and frogs. What other Biblical plagues are going to happen?
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That must pose interesting legal questions as to who owns what ???
One certainly might be on shaky ground! ;)
Apologies, very best wishes and please stay safe ... to all our friends in New Zealand.
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OOOOOOh groan - you certainly need to apologise for that one Cliff.
Thanks for your comments Lesley and David. That must have been a frightening experience Lesley, but your tale certainly paints a scary picture of such dust storms.
David, interesting times indeed. What could be deduced from the evidence presented in the pictures is certainly consistent with the broader picture you relate. Thanks for this.
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I heard on the radio today that some ...boundry fences and buildings have moved up to 4 metres from their original positions.
Is that towards Australia or away? ;) We offered you a place at Federation and you refused so don't think you can just become part of us by moving a few tectonic plates! ;D ;D ;D
A friend has sent this link to the Canterbury Uni: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/photos.shtml (http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/photos.shtml)
Some rooms just look like what you'd expect Uni students to leave behind them! ;D
cheers
fermi
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First job today when I arrived at work was to evacuate the hotel after a 5.1 shake. :(
State of emergency has been extended by 7 days after this mornings rattler
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I think the boundries were moved towards the sea Fermi, the Pacific, that is, so more likely we'll join up again with South America, maybe resurrect Gondwanaland! ;D
Re the university pictures, it can be seen why Canterbury Uni has closed until the 13th at least. I've said some very ude words about uni students over the years, especially when the Canterbury engineering school trashes Dunedin on their annual "Undie 500" run but classes off in the meantime, one bright lad put out a notice by text and on Facebook asking for a couple of dozen students to help with some cleaning up of properties owned by elderly folks living alone. MORE THAN 2000 TURNED UP with wheelbarrows, spades, shovels, brooms and other tools and they have spent the week, boys and girls, shovelling the ghastly mud and silt from peoples gardens, paths and houses, and dumping it on the streets for the council trucks to collect and take away. As one elderly woman said, "no-one else has been by. If it wasn't for these young people we'd be covered with the stuff by now."
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After the quake. Not as bad as it looks, still plenty of survivors for the Otago Alpine Group show in Dunedin on the 18th and 19th September
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Here is a link to Geonet showing the fault an aerial photos of the fault trace. You can see the offset by the displacement of the irrigation ditches and shelter belts.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html (http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html)
for the life of me, i cannot find photos from that page :(
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We have been watching the demolition work in the centre of Christchurch on our cable TV and broadcast services. It really is heart wrenching to see wonderful old buildings having to be pulled down. More upsetting is the announcements of job losses because some business will not reopen following the earthquake damage.
We Australians have lots of experiences with natural disasters (drought and flood and fire) so we can empathise, but this is New Zealand's "Garden City" so this really does become personal. In these trying time I hope all Kiwi's "maintain their keen sense of humus"
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After the quake. Not as bad as it looks, still plenty of survivors for the Otago Alpine Group show in Dunedin on the 18th and 19th September
I knew you double potted a lot Stuart but didn't realise it's everything :)
Do you think you will lose anything ?.
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Lesley,
Your reporting of the 2,000 students turning up to clean out gardens etc is a good new story. Nice to read it.
Paddy
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one bright lad put out a notice by text and on Facebook asking for a couple of dozen students to help with some cleaning up of properties owned by elderly folks living alone. MORE THAN 2000 TURNED UP with wheelbarrows, spades, shovels, brooms and other tools and they have spent the week, boys and girls, shovelling the ghastly mud and silt from peoples gardens, paths and houses, and dumping it on the streets for the council trucks to collect and take away. As one elderly woman said, "no-one else has been by. If it wasn't for these young people we'd be covered with the stuff by now."
That's good to hear Lesley, kind of restores your faith in the next generation ;)
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Here is a link to Geonet showing the fault an aerial photos of the fault trace. You can see the offset by the displacement of the irrigation ditches and shelter belts.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html (http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html)
for the life of me, i cannot find photos from that page :(
cohan... neither can I!! Help!
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http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html (http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/article-sep-4-2010-christchurch-earthquake.html)
The page is still there. Here is the link again.
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That is strange --i viewed the photos ,(and video shot from a helicopter),just after you posted the details David --however i cannot locate them .
I see the geonet page has been updated since so possibly the earlier info has been superseded ?.
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Found the link--- go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npqx3WmNkv4
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more pictures i.e. here http://www.nzboards.com/news-views-and-issues/christchurch-earthquake-pictures-91511/ (http://www.nzboards.com/news-views-and-issues/christchurch-earthquake-pictures-91511/)
All the best wishes to our forum friends in NZ!
I hope your goverment provides all necessary support in order recover quickly from the shock!
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Thanks for the youtube link..... I do think the page must have been updated before I looked to find that content. The helicopter shots are very revealing.
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The original article given by David has been updated somewhat and has a new url - here it is:
http://www.geonet.org.nz/news/sep-2010-darfield-earthquake/gns-science-response.html
It also contains a link to the utube movie, though this is a bit difficult to watch on my very slow broadband connection.
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The Govt. does seem to be coming to the party, at least in words. It seems there will be at least $4billion to be found for the cleanup and it is said that it will take a year or even more to replace broken sewer lines, especially in Kaiapoi. Portaloos are to be in place in some streets for that time but I don't think I could bear that scenario. Some people have already left the city.
Some farmers near Hororata and Darfield have brand new, full size rivers or lakes on their properties.
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Welcome Stuart, I didn't realize that was you. Glad to see you posting. Don't stop now. :D
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Interesting link showing quakes/aftershocks over time
http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz:80/
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"maintain their keen sense of humus"
We do our best John. Thank heaven for plants. I know that in times of severe stress I always find some relief in potting, seed sowing, weeding or whatever, in the garden and humus is the nicest stuff to work with. ;D
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Interesting link showing quakes/aftershocks over time
http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz:80/
That is fascinating.... if more than a little frightening. Really an eye-opener to see just how many shocks there have been so far. :-X
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Easier to watch the earthquake map if you click on the slow button under the word jump. 4 so far today.
3.4M, depth: 8km 10/9/2010 09:17
3M, depth: 6km 10/9/2010 07:15
4.5M, depth: 6km 10/9/2010 07:10
3.9M, depth: 4km 10/9/2010 06:28
Below are 2 pics of our teenage volunteer army. This group part of a team of 25 clearing silt around buildings where machinery cannot reach. There are teams like this all around the residential areas of Kaiapoi while the schools remain closed.
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Your reporting of the 2,000 students turning up to clean out gardens etc is a good new story. Nice to read it.
I agree with Paddy, in his earlier posting, that this is 'a good new story' - to see so many young people respond to the earthquake cleanup situation and help the elderly is fantastic and the elderly will appreciate the youth so much more, too, after this. This spontaneous reaction after a posting on Facebook from a real young leader to those in need reveals the best in human nature, whatever generation.
On top of that, for the young involved it will be such a worthwhile task, paid for by thanks not money, that it will probably influence them for the rest of their lives (2000 in one go)
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It's terrific to hear of these young folk volunteering like this. If they are all as strong looking and chunky as the ones in Stuart's photo they'll soon have the place cleared up. ;)
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Interesting link showing quakes/aftershocks over time
:o :o
That's some serious re-arrangement of the local landscape going on there.
Of course the aftershocks never appear in the news, other than as a throwaway line at the end of a bulletin showing wrecked buildings. You can see why people want to go on living in the streets after a major 'quake.
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Interesting link showing quakes/aftershocks over time
http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz:80/
holy cow! i've only every experienced two very minor quakes while living in toronto..never heard of any here...
thanks DaveM for the repost, good to know i wasn't just missing the photos...lol
i agree its great to see the youth out helping :)
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A full week later and still there is much to be discovered. Building assessors are only now getting to some of the outer suburbs and smaller towns in Canterbury and finding more and more homes and businesses badly or even terminally damaged. St John's Ambulance reported overnight that on Friday night they attended 8 coronary attack callouts (the nightly average is usually 1) and of the 8, 7 were fatal, all believed to be stress-related. So I guess the quake could be said to have killed at least 7 people.
An enormous landslip (100 metres wide) has closed Highway 1 between Christchurch and Kaikoura and this too is thought to be the result of earth movement from the quake. It will take days to clear and there could even be vehicles under the debris. This is, after all, Nz's eqivilent to the M1.