Christchurch Earthquake 23/12/11

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kingjj

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Topic # 94994 23-Dec-2011 14:10

Seems redundant now creating a topic on an earthquake in Christchurch but that one 5 mins ago was suitably impressive to warrant a message to all those in Canterbury asking if they are alright?

By my count 4 quakes so far, nil damage in my area that I can see.

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Reply # 560983 23-Dec-2011 14:27

I was in Riccarton mall, good shake in there, the church by my work was amazing to watch as it shook back and forth.

floydbloke

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Reply # 560987 23-Dec-2011 14:39

That's awful news. Hope everyone down there is OK. Our thoughts are with you once again.

Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. (T.S. Eliot)

kingjj

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Reply # 560993 23-Dec-2011 15:17

Ohh here we go again! Stuff damage this time, broken glass etc

pageweon

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Reply # 560994 23-Dec-2011 15:23

BALLS BALLS BALLS

... on the upside everyone seems to be ok, very shaken though

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alasta

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Reply # 561008 23-Dec-2011 16:09

I was in the middle of Hagley Park for the first one and wasn't too worried, but with the second big one (the one at 3:18pm) I was in front of a block of shops on Waimari Road and had to duck for cover with people around me screaming hysterically. That second one actually felt bigger to me despite reports that it was a lesser magnitude.

oxnsox

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Reply # 561018 23-Dec-2011 16:49

First one (5.8) was followed by such a swarm that GNS were having trouble identifying and posting anything. Took them over an hour to get the second major quake (6.0) up

alasta

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Reply # 561019 23-Dec-2011 16:52

oxnsox: First one (5.8) was followed by such a swarm that GNS were having trouble identifying and posting anything. Took them over an hour to get the second major quake (6.0) up

Yep, I can see now that the second big one is being reported as shallower and a larger magnitude than the first which is consistent with what I felt.

tdgeek

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Reply # 561038 23-Dec-2011 19:12

All ok here, spent afternoon with the girl next door as her partner was at work booze up. My whole house seemed to move 4 foot and back again, after the first 10 seconds. But all ok. I really cant be bothered watching the news about it, so over it.

mattwnz

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Reply # 561063 23-Dec-2011 21:04

The experts are at last admitting that they aren't following normal patterns and there are likely to be future quakes at least as big. Wonder how much these are going to add to the bill as buildings in the red zone have been further damaged. The one good thing as no one died and no serious injuries.

alasta

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Reply # 561070 23-Dec-2011 21:35

mattwnz: The experts are at last admitting that they aren't following normal patterns and there are likely to be future quakes at least as big. Wonder how much these are going to add to the bill as buildings in the red zone have been further damaged. The one good thing as no one died and no serious injuries.

Damage to buildings in the red zone wouldn't have any real economic cost because the vulnerable ones are going to be demolished anyway. I think the real worry here is that insurance companies are going to run a mile, and that could delay the rebuild by several years in the worse case scenario.

I'm not too sure of the detail around how CERA are phasing their recovery plans, but I hope that they have a credible medium term plan. Most residents and businesses probably now have effective short term premises, and obviously the wide scale rebuild of Christchurch will be the long term solution but the way things are going it could take 20 years to get commercial and residential property back to full capacity. In the interim it makes a lot of sense to me to work alongside business to see whether there are opportunities to inject capital into cities with growth potential like Dunedin and Nelson for those who wish to relocate in the medium term.

mattwnz

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Reply # 561081 23-Dec-2011 22:20

alasta:
mattwnz: The experts are at last admitting that they aren't following normal patterns and there are likely to be future quakes at least as big. Wonder how much these are going to add to the bill as buildings in the red zone have been further damaged. The one good thing as no one died and no serious injuries.

Damage to buildings in the red zone wouldn't have any real economic cost because the vulnerable ones are going to be demolished anyway. I think the real worry here is that insurance companies are going to run a mile, and that could delay the rebuild by several years in the worse case scenario.?

I'm not too sure of the detail around how CERA are phasing their recovery plans, but I hope that they have a credible medium term plan. Most residents and businesses probably now have effective short term premises, and obviously the wide scale rebuild of Christchurch will be the long term solution but the way things are going it could take 20 years to get commercial and residential property back to full capacity. In the interim it makes a lot of sense to me to work alongside business to see whether there are opportunities to inject capital into cities with growth potential like Dunedin and Nelson for those who wish to relocate in the medium term.

Yeah I think the main cost from this recent swarm is peoples houses, and many people getting them reassessed again, which is a big cost. I think it is bout $150 odd million so far just for the assessments. Many people are having them repaired now , so I hope people haven't had more damage. It is hard to get an idea how much damage people have had, as the TV coverage hasn't really shown much damage. Mainly the liquefaction. I wourk with a businesses whose building collapsed in Feb, and have since rebuilt a new shop on the site, so things have been improving.
Insurance is definitely a big problem, and doesn't just affect chch. We may need the gov to set up a insurance company if these overseas owned companies start to get too picky. Basically people have to be able to get EQ insurance coverage, otherwise it will reduce the value of peoples major asset.

oxnsox

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Reply # 561085 23-Dec-2011 22:34

Another view is that there is significant infrastructure in place in Canterbury that would cost more to replicate in another location (Nelson / Dunedin). And no place in this country is any more immune from these 'acts-of-nature'. than any place else....
In reality we have to accept that we, and our systems are as much parts of the natural processes as events like these. And just as we've learnt to build buildings that keep out the weather now we need to build them to be more structurally sound. As they do in other countries. We need to lean from the natural evolution in each environment.

And along the way we'll maybe also learn that it's simply nonsensical to build in some places, like cliff edges, which are prone to effects from seismic and weather events.

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Reply # 561097 24-Dec-2011 00:01

I really got away scot free today... Never lost power, NO damage to land, house or contents. I feel very lucky, expecially given I was ONLY 800 METRES FROM THE EPICENTRE!

I grabbed this off my security system

Cheers - N

old3eyes

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Reply # 561156 24-Dec-2011 11:29

mattwnz:
Insurance is definitely a big problem, and doesn't just affect chch. We may need the gov to set up a insurance company if these overseas owned companies start to get too picky. Basically people have to be able to get EQ insurance coverage, otherwise it will reduce the value of peoples major asset.

Insurance is already a problem. My wifes church (Presyberterian AKL) have been told yesterday that they can't get insurance now for natural disasters or fires or damage resulting from such. Basically they are only covered for non natural disasters and acts of war but I bet the insurers will try to get out of that as well.. This will soon flow on to commercial building owners and then to home insurance. I'd be surprized if anyone could bet any home and contents cover in the Christchurch region now..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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Reply # 561957 27-Dec-2011 19:33

I was having a beer in the sun at a pub for the first two... biking home for the 6.0... not cool. Saw an old guy get knocked to the ground, people running out of shops, dust rising from already-munted buildings - plus nearly got thrown off my bike myself.

Gah!

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