geography case study

Earthquake case study
Christ Church

Location: Christ church, New Zealand

When: 22nd February, 2011

Boundary type;

On an already formed fault line on the pacific plate.

What happened: It is considered an aftershock of a previous 7.1 magnitude earthquake, which happened in September 2010. A magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale hit 10 km east of Christ Church and 5km deep. This was New Zealand second worst ever earthquake. A tsunami was created by the Tasman Glacier sliding into the ocean creating a wave 11 feet high. There was also some liquefaction and some occurrences of landslides which were debris slides. It had opened up a new rupture which was 8 x 8km in size. It was a strike slip event, with mostly horizontal movement but with some horizontal movement.

Effects: The effects of this earthquake were much worse than the September 2010 earthquake due to the fact it was much closer to Christ Church, which is New Zealand’s second most populous city.
Effect
Amount/ description
Deaths
181
Injured
1500-2000
Supplies
Power was cut to 40% of the city and water had been severely disrupted by the quake. With 158,000 people not having access to toilets due to large sections being damaged.
Building damages
45% of Christchurch buildings were severely damaged and 15% on average of buildings were demolished. Which was roughly 10,000
Cost
£2.7 billion in insurance claims. With a total cost of £8 Billion making it the third most costly earthquake ever recorded.
Tsunami
The Tsunami hit a number of tour boats
Supplies into Christ church
A trans-costal ferry was not able to operate for
Closed airspace
New Zealand airspace was closed so that it could inspect all it facilities to check for damage
Falling buildings
Many cars and buses were crushed from falling debris, also some people on pavements buried by debris.
Road and bridges damaged
Many roads were damaged by soil liquefaction and bridges were damaged by the earthquake
Schools and university’s
Christchurch 164 schools and universities were mostly closed for three weeks with 11 being seriously damaged with students being relocated.

Management of earthquake

The New Zealand red cross launched an appeal to help the victims. Australia donated £2.7 million and New South Wales donated £700,000 in aid of the victims, there were many other donations to help with the recovery of Christchurch. 10,000 houses were demolished as damaged beyond repair. 450 mobile houses and 500 modular homes were built for the people who had lost a house or had a damaged property which needed repair. Students had to be relocated into temporary schools while schools were being repaired. There were many insurance claims to be paid with 7,500 claims, there were £2.7 billion paid out in claims.