A City Devastated and Reborn

Living my most of my life in earthquake country, I thought I was used to them…Easter quake in Anchorage, Northridge quake in L.A.and Loma Prieta in San Francisco…but Christchurch has given new meaning to what a quake can do to a city. It began in September of 2010 with a 7.1 in the middle of the night which did some damage..it was hard to believe that a quake of that magnitude would do “some” damage. But that was just the harbinger of things to come, and the epicenter of that quake was outside the city. Little did they know, as the saying goes. A series of over 1,200 after shocks continued to rock and at 12:51 in the afternoon on the 22nd of February a smaller, but far more devastating quake hit the city and literally tore it apart. 185 deaths with 115 occurring in just one building was the human toll, but a 4 square kilometer quadrant of the city was essentially damaged to the point where it was cordoned off and no persons other than emergency crews were allowed inside for months. Over 1,000 buildings have, or had, to be torn down and it will take literally years for things to get back to any semblance of normalcy for this city of 250,000 residents. There was hardly a home or family that was not affected by the 30 second quake. Lateral spreading and liquefaction are now everyday terms for the residents. Lateral spreading is where the earth is literally ripped apart causing huge rifts in the land. Liquefaction is where a high water table or saturated soil become jello-like and can’t support structures any further. Some areas still look like a war zone and although rebuilding is happening throughout the city, the enormity of the damage means that scars will be visible for years to come. The quake dropped the level of parts of the city so significantly that they are now prone to flooding where it did not occur before. Indeed, on our arrival in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, a cyclone dropped in on the city and flooded parts of it. In order to rebuild, pylons now must be sunk over 75 feet (25 meters) into the ground to get to solid bedrock. Christchurch was famed for its limestone buildings, beautiful but ultimately easily laid asunder by this quake. The famous cathedral suffered such damage that it will have to be torn down completely. Throughout the downtown area the sound of jackhammers tearing into buildings earmarked for destruction and the ever present cranes of the rebuilding process are the dominant sights and sounds of the central business district.

People were thrown about like rag dolls and debris blew out of cupboards and book cases as if shot from cannons. From all that I had read before and accounts from people I know who had been here. Out Servas hosts Sally and Chendra told us that during the 7.1 middle of the night shaker, the differences between them came to the fore. Her initial thought was for him to get to their daughter’s house next door and get her, while he just wanted to hold her tightly. “If I was going to die,” he said, “I wanted it to be holding her. Christchurch was a truly lovely city with English style architecture adding a sedate and lovely setting, until all hell broke loose at noontime that fateful day. Stairways collapsed In multi-story buildings and people had to be lowered by makeshift harnesses and ropes to the ground below. Those rushing from the buildings had to be alert to the crumbling buildings cascading down upon them from above as the stunned residents tried to wrap their brain around the events of just moments before.

Rebuilding has begun but there is so much to repair…still decisions need to be made as to what can be saved and what needs to come down. In Tashkent in the devastating earthquake, the Soviets didn’t have any such problems…Central planning just made unilateral decisions and that was that…to their credit, Tashkent became a lovely city with broad avenues and very modern architecture and none of the old block house construction for which the Soviets were (in)famous. Sally and Chendra can’t get anything done on their house because the insurance company said damage was $250,000 and the earthquake assessment board said it was $59,000…until the amount is resolved, nothing can be done…and we’re three years now from the actual quake…they wait, and wait and wait. But bright new shiny buildings are replacing the old ones destroyed. New building techniques have been learned from other cities which underwent the same devastation. The character of the city will be forever changed as stone structures will not be rebuilt and more earthquake tolerant buildings are. We talked to people who had been to Christchurch as tourists before the earthquake and they were lost in the city. None of their familiar landmarks were there and they stood on corners trying to figure out exactly where they were and what it looked like before. But Kiwis are a resilient lot and they have steeled themselves to the task ahead and project their “stiff upper lip,” in a very positive way towards the future.

Sign of the day: “White Bait.” It’s a tiny fish and they make patties out of the whole fish and batter it…apparently 20+ to make one patty and the eyes stick out of the patty.” I passed