Earthquakes in Christchurch today - 23 December 2011

Damage in today's earthquake in Christchurch was quite bad with liquefaction and water spewing through the ground is an ongoing problem.

Yesterday was our day at the beach, and today was our day at ' Get High in the Adrenalin Forest' some 20 km north of Christchurch at Spencerville...

Mt family and I had just completed 2 levels of high and tight ropes, flying foxes and wobbly suspended steps, and as I was just walking to level 3 of difficulty, when the tree roots I were walking over shook violently  for at least 15 seconds. There was a strong upward thrust and iIlooked up, and there was my son, swinging on a high rope, 20 metres off the ground. EARTHQUAKE was my immediate reaction having been involved in 15 earthquake operations in almost 40 years.

It must  have been a few minutes before 2 pm. NZ time. While we were at Adrenalin forest, we felt two more aftershocks. Then as we moved to some open ground outside Northland mall, all shops were closed down and workers flooded out, many traumatised from so many earthquakes since september 2010.
25,000 people in Easternm Christchurch are without power. In the 2 hours we awaited for some sort of reading or prediction, at least 5 more significant aftershocks accured.

Roger Sutton the CEO of Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Agency said  a few minutes ago he flew over Christchurch  an hour or so agao and said "Liquafaction had affected many areas."

We are on holiday in Christcurch and when we returned to our Motel in Main North road, there were cracks in our room.

I will keep you posted.

Christchurch was still recovering from an earthquake in Sept 2010 and another more devastating one in February 2011.
Latest from stuff:

A swarm of quakes - including a magnitude 6 and three at or above magnitude 5 - have hit Christchurch, toppling already damaged buildings, injuring residents and disrupting power, phone services and retailers.


The first quake - magnitude 5.8 quake, 8km deep and centred 20km north east of Lyttelton - struck at 1.58pm, GeoNet said. It was followed by a magnitude 5.3 quake at 2.06pm, a magnitude 6 quake - the largest - at 3.18pm and a 5.0, just 10 km deep, at 4.50pm.

The quakes were felt as far south as Queenstown and as far north as Lower Hutt, according to GeoNet. People in Greymouth, Ashburton, Dunedin, Hanmer Springs and Oamaru also felt them.

EMERGENCY SERVICES RESPOND

A partly demolished building and a vacant house have collapsed following today's quakes, police said.

There were still no reports of widespread damage or injury, but there had been significant rockfall at Redcliffs, police spokesman Stephen Hill said.

A stopbank on New Brighton Road had also collapsed, and there were reports of major holes on Broadhaven Ave and liquefaction in Avonside.

Earlier today, Hill said four people had to be rescued after they were trapped by a rockfall in Boulder Bay.

One person, who was at the Eastgate Mall in Linwood, had been injured and was taken to hospital.

The WINZ building in New Brighton had suffered some damage and staff had to be evacuated.

Many malls were closed and police patrolled streets for damage.

Roads were gridlocked as people tried to rush home, but police warned motorists to slow down and drive with care. Drivers were urged to stay away from the hill suburbs as there was a risk of further rockfalls.

The Lyttelton Tunnel remained open.

St John Ambulance responded to at least 19 people with various injuries. They included six people who collapsed, two people who had seizures, one person who had a panic attack, and one person who received a knock to their head, St John Regional Operations Manager Chris Haines said.

One person was also treated by St John after having a minor car accident.

Other injuries included chest pain and anxiety issues and six people were treated for "unknown issues", Haines said.

IMPACT ON INFRASTRUCTURE

The National Crisis Management Centre has been activated in response to the quakes.
Phone services were disrupted and about 26,000 Orion customers were without power in the eastern suburbs, including New Brighton and Dallington.