The First Earthquake – September 4, 2010

Saturday September 4^th 2010 is a day that will go down in the memories of the 400, 000 residents of Christchurch, New Zealand as the day the first big Christchurch earthquake hit them.

At precisely 4.35 am in the morning an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale struck with the epi-centre just north of the city at Darfield where a massive fault line opened up the road.

Miraculously for an earthquake of this magnitude there were no fatalities. However many residents suffered serious injuries and damage to property was extensive. Fire broke out in one city building but was quickly brought under control.

After shocks were still continuing days afterwards.

How did this great city cope with such a disaster? Well immediately although power and water supplies were cut and the mobile phone network went into overload, Civil Defence and Mayor Bob Parker swung into action. But most importantly the community supported each other, checking on neighbours and helping where needed.

The central city blocks were cordoned off, and teams of engineers set about assessing each building and rating the safety of each. Many needed immediate demolition which was quite heartbreaking for owners.

Power was restored to most by the end of the first day but restoring water took many days more as the earthquake had damaged water mains and the army were called in to help there. Constant reminders were broadcast to residents to boil their drinking water and for those without power to do that, they were advised to add 3 drops of household bleach to a litre of water.

Government agencies contacted by phone or in person every elderly person over 65 to check on their welfare, while those families with condemned or destroyed homes were housed in centres set up in school halls. Schools were closed for days and there was no public transport for 3 days also.

There were many tales of near misses and good fortune to emerge and also valuable lessons for future earthquakes.

Many people keep civil emergency kits in their homes but how many of you keep a torch by your bed? Many regretted this omission that morning of the great Christchurch earthquake!

Aftershocks continued on Wednesday September 8th with the largest measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale occurring at 7.49 am and epi-centre at Darfield. This was very unnerving for Christchurch residents and Mayor Bob Parker was quoted as saying “We have had enough!”

Many residents who were having difficulty coping with the stress chose to move out of the city temporarily.

2300 homes were estimated to be uninhabitable requiring a massive rebuilding program to replace these. The Earthquake Commission received nearly 40,000 claims initially it was that estimated 100,000 homes were affected.

The Christchurch City council hurriedly pushed through new regulations requiring earthquake-prone buildings to be strengthened to a higher standard.

The major earthquakes felt On September 4th, 2010

Time	Magnitude
4.35am	7.1
4.56am	5.3
7.56am	5.2
11.12am	5.3
11.14am	5.3
4.55am	5.4

View photos of the damage caused by the September 4 earthquake.