Are you afraid of earthquakes?

[veronica]

Minnysian there were no whole streets with the buildings falling down, the pictures in the papers and on the news were of isolated buildings on different streets, in fact in one lot of pictures one building is photographed 4 times from different angles giving the appearence of several buildings. Yes there was some damage, most of it to the older, low rise, red brick buildings that were built 100 years ago when the mortar they used was weak and the buildings didn't have earthquake regs to comply to. But what was shown in the papers was only the badly affected buildings, they didn't show whole streets where the only damage was the odd chimney that had come down, and in a lot of the newer areas then even that wasn't the case, more damage to peoples nerves. mundane ordinary stuff doesn't make a good news storey and spectacular stuff does. It left a lot of people the world over imagining that Christchurch was virtually razed to the ground when in fact that was so far from the case, even the supermarkets managed to open on that 1st day after they had cleared up. there were no shortages of anything, no panic buying (although the papers would have let you believe there was) we didn't even lose power or water, the phone was off for 1 hour but we had our mobiles so that wasn't an issue.
Like a lot of you I am of the opinion that when these aftershocks are over ( and most of them we don't feel) then Christchurch should be the most stable unwobbly city in NZ for a while. (the last time this plate moved was 16000 years ago for goodness sake, ) Where ever you go and whatever you do there is always risk involved, just keep it all in perspective.

[ourquest]

So what if I am Zimbabwean? This thread is about earthquakes? Treat people with some basic respect, no matter which countries they are from.

It's you who said in a post that you are not from Zimbabwe, but continue to indicate your location as being "Zimbawe". Prior to that, and because you had made it very clear that you are not from a third world country, I was prompted to ask you where you were in fact from. It seems you brought it up before I did.

Upload your correct location (or leave it off), spell it correctly and then refrain from implying that only residents of third world countries should feel lucky moving to New Zealand, and I will then treat you with respect as I will then feel that who say you are and where you say you are from are in alignment.

[ourquest]

(the last time this plate moved was 16000 years ago for goodness sake, )

The plates are moving all the time. Christchurch does not lie on a different plate...the whole of New Zealand is on a plate boundary. What was surprising was that the stress adjustment took place where it did and not further west.

I don't know all the details of current understanding regarding the fault zone, but since the actual fault zone was unmapped (lying below young sediments) I am sure it would be scientifically tentative at best to make any inference as to when it was last active.

[veronica]

Ourquest I am only quoting the information the experts have given us here on the ground at Christchurch, that that when was it last moved and that its a series of plates as opposed to one continuous one, but I will bow down to your superior knowledge.

[veronica]

If anyone is interested in the experts report there is a good write up on this link. http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/.../quake-13.html
Most of us living here now check on
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/...nt_quakes.html
as this gives all the recent activity. In the city its not often we feel under a 4 now unless its located near the city and shallow.
No I am not worried living in an earthquake zone. just keep the emergency pack up to date and use common sense.

[ralf-nz]

If anyone is interested in the experts report there is a good write up on this link. http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/.../quake-13.html

Below an email we received on this; all these groups have their web sites filled with publicly available information - much fun!

From: NZSEE- Canterbury Structural Group- NZGS [mailto:techgroups@ipenz.org.nz]
Sent: Tuesday, 5 October 2010 3:24 p.m.
To: Lou Robinson
Subject: Canterbury Technical Clearinghouse newsletter


Dear Colleagues;

This is the second summary newsletter that I have prepared on behalf of the NZSEE to brief technical groups on activities and resources pertaining to the Darfield (Canterbury) Earthquake of 4 September. This is being distributed to all members of the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE), the Structural Engineering Society NZ (SESOC) and the NZ Geotechnical Society (NZGS), as many from outside Canterbury have contributed to the work in Canterbury, either recently or in the past, and are interested in our activities.

The Canterbury Structural Group (CSG) and the NZSEE hosted a forum on "The earthquake and what do we do next" on 22 September, which began with an overview of the scientific investigations into the earthquake and its effects. Questions and answers about the earthquake and the types of damage observed in larger structures were outlined. There was an open discussion on a number of response and recovery related topics. Several structures-related decision questions are being discussed in a blog in preparation for a second forum on Wednesday 6 October.

The Canterbury Branches of the NZGS and the NZSEE hosted a Special Meeting on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering in Canterbury on 28 September. This meeting began with a presentation on the National Seismic Hazard Model and the ground motion recorded at several sites. This was followed by an overview of the geotechnical response and subsequent investigations. Subsequent comments and discussions mostly centred on house foundations, ranging from how to design for liquefaction as an Ultimate or Habitability Limit State, to how it should be incorporated into standards like NZS 3604, to how to reinstate or repair damaged foundations and structures. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 12 October.

Environment Canterbury is gathering metadata on remote sensing and aerial photography datasets captured since the earthquake. The metadata summary currently lists seven sets of LiDAR, photos and video available for earthquake recovery work.

There are several overseas investigation teams planning to arrive over the next month. Specifically, Australian and US Engineering Lifelines teams will be in Canterbury for the week beginning 11 October. Most of the NZ and overseas investigation teams have returned home and are posting their observation reports in their newsletters and websites, and are submitting longer articles to international journals.

The first newsletter and the information and links provided above are posted on the private Canterbury Technical Clearinghouse website. There is also an independent public NZSEE Clearinghouse.

Finally, future newsletters will only be distributed to Canterbury members of the technical groups; there is a signup form on the Canterbury Technical Clearinghouse if you are from outside Canterbury and would like to receive future issues.

With regards,
Canterbury Technical Clearinghouse & Visiting Scientist Coordinator

[minnysian]

How have you missed knowing about NZ's geothermal nature (including volcanoes)? It's one of the great claims to fame! http://www.newzealand.com/travel/abo...nd-geology.cfm And despite knowing the potential downsides, most people don't spend their whole life thinking of those, but appreciate the interest and spectacular beauty which depend on the same underlying state of the earth's crust.

Indeed. Maybe I am too sheltered.

Minnysian there were no whole streets with the buildings falling down, the pictures in the papers and on the news were of isolated buildings on different streets, in fact in one lot of pictures one building is photographed 4 times from different angles giving the appearence of several buildings. Yes there was some damage, most of it to the older, low rise, red brick buildings that were built 100 years ago when the mortar they used was weak and the buildings didn't have earthquake regs to comply to. But what was shown in the papers was only the badly affected buildings, they didn't show whole streets where the only damage was the odd chimney that had come down, and in a lot of the newer areas then even that wasn't the case, more damage to peoples nerves. mundane ordinary stuff doesn't make a good news storey and spectacular stuff does. It left a lot of people the world over imagining that Christchurch was virtually razed to the ground when in fact that was so far from the case, even the supermarkets managed to open on that 1st day after they had cleared up. there were no shortages of anything, no panic buying (although the papers would have let you believe there was) we didn't even lose power or water, the phone was off for 1 hour but we had our mobiles so that wasn't an issue.
Like a lot of you I am of the opinion that when these aftershocks are over ( and most of them we don't feel) then Christchurch should be the most stable unwobbly city in NZ for a while. (the last time this plate moved was 16000 years ago for goodness sake, ) Where ever you go and whatever you do there is always risk involved, just keep it all in perspective.

Yes, we all know how the press likes to sensationalise things. It is nice to hear that life goes on as usual.

[minnysian]

Like a lot of you I am of the opinion that when these aftershocks are over ( and most of them we don't feel) then Christchurch should be the most stable unwobbly city in NZ for a while. (the last time this plate moved was 16000 years ago for goodness sake, ) Where ever you go and whatever you do there is always risk involved, just keep it all in perspective.

Well the aftershocks were over but a new earthquake hit, in exactly the same spot, months later.

Hope u are ok V.

I think the previous earthquake might have weakened a lot of the buildings, that is why so many buildings fell this time.