22 Feb 11 - Christchurch has been hit by a 6.3 magnitude quake
5km deep and 10km southeast of the city – closer and shallower than the 7.1 jolt
that hit the city on September 4.
Here's how reports describe the scene:
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Horror and chaos. Dead bodies lying around. Christchurch
Airport closed. Cars completely crushed. Emergency services trying to
extract people from rubble. People trapped in buildings. "Very violent"
shaking.
Roads completely torn up. Sewage coming up and flooding.
Elderly are all crying. People can't get out of their houses. Cars
halfway sunken into the road. A bus sunken halfway into the road
It smells horrible. Roads packed with cars. Not enough
police or ambulances. Houses all collapsing. A total war zone. Many
large aftershocks. The spire on the Christchurch Cathedral has
collapsed. |
"Mate, this is chaos," said NBR Christchurch reporter Chris
Hutching (whose wife and family are safe). "It's incredible ... I'm in the
middle of town now ... This time people have been killed ... Latimer Square is
full of people who have been evacuated out, all very upset. One woman was saying
how Cashel Mall had collapsed and she thought there were dead people there ... I
have just been ordered off the scene of one collapsed building where the police
told me there were dead people underneath."
See entire
articles and amazing photos:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708013
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/big-earthquake-hits-south-island-mn-86648
Thanks to Stephanie Relfe for these links
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"There's such devastation because this earthquake was
only 5 km deep," says Stephanie. "The last one was 33 km deep (heard
this on the news)." |
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Robert,
I
want to respond to the quote from your reader (above) about the New
Zealand Quake because I heard the same. The media is saying that this quake seems
worse because of the shallowness, as compared to the 7.0 that hit in
September. However, if you look at the USGS
site, it shows them at the same depth. Someone's fibbing here!
Thomas Loher
Sept. 4. 2010 mag. 7.0 Depth 5
km (3.1 miles
) NEAR Christchurch, New Zealand
Feb. 22, 2011 mag. 6.3 Depth 5
km (3.1 miles ) 30
miles W of Christchurch, New Zealand |