{"id":6211,"date":"2011-06-15T06:30:57","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T18:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=6211"},"modified":"2011-06-14T23:15:40","modified_gmt":"2011-06-14T11:15:40","slug":"earthquake-report-christchurch-june-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2011\/06\/15\/earthquake-report-christchurch-june-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthquake Report: Christchurch June 14"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday, I posted<\/a> to let you know that we had had two further major earthquakes here in Christchurch (what I thought then was a 5.5 and 6.0) but had basically come through safely physcially but with further damage to both house and land, particularly the latter in terms of liquefaction.<\/p>\n

As of yesterday, June 14 NZ time, the 5.5 had been upgraded to a 5.6 and the 6.0 to a 6.3, exactly the same level of magnitude as the major February 22nd quake. This does not surprise me, I have to say, as it was a pretty scary few seconds while the world rocked and rolled in a fashion very reminiscent of February 22. The main difference from a subjective point of view was the duration: I am reasonably sure that yesterday’s 6.3 earthquake was shorter. But I use the word “subjective” advisedly since I haven’t been able to find evidence to confirm my perception of duration yet.<\/p>\n

The other new piece of information from yesterday was that these earthquakes were generated from a new fault, distinct from both the September 4 and February 22nd events, so that really does make it seem as though Christchurch is fracturing apart. The other question it begs is how long, really, we can expect this to go on. The experts talk about a 1 year to 18 month period of aftershocks, but it is less clear whether this is 1 year to 18 months (approximately!) from the original September 4 quake or 12-18 months from each individual earthquake off a distinct fault. Hard to know, but I fear the latter—and while it’s nice to be special, one can definitely have too much of a good thing!<\/p>\n

Far <\/em>too much of a … “thing”—because to be honest, I think we can leave the “good” out of it altogether. Talking briefly with neighbours yesterday as the process of digging out liquefaction began again, everyone expressed the same sense of weariness, but also the very real fear that the same process may just happen all over again in a few weeks or months time. And each time homes and land get just a little more damaged, a little closer to the point where you wonder whether they will stand up to the next major quake–and yesterday, there was a moment when I honestly thought that the house might shake apart around me.<\/p>\n

Of course, once it’s all over you chide yourself for having a too-vivid writerly imagination, but in the moment—well, you certainly wonder …<\/p>\n

So what does it mean to be a citizen of the eastern suburbs right now?<\/p>\n

In many ways, it feels back—or very close to back—to square one as of February 22nd, ie:<\/p>\n