powerful quake strikes New Zealand

[MMPerk]

To our fellow air race fan from New Zealand...kiwiracefan

We hope you and yours are ok, our thoughts and prayers are being sent out to you.

Lonnie

[kiwiracefan]

Lonnie,

Many thanks for the wishes, I am very lucky to have only felt the 'big one' where i live is approx 300 miles south of the epicentre.
The quake was epicentered approx 20 miles west of Christchurch City at a depth of approx 14 miles measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale.
The town of Darfiled was closest to the epicenter and was hard hit.
Damage to the city of Christchurch has been extensive, with roads damaged.
At this point the biggest miracle is that there are no reports of fatalities in the quake.
The main airport was closed for most of the day as engineers inspected the runways to make sure they were safe for operations which will be important over the next 6 months as Operation Deep Freeze to support the Antartic research program is due to start in the near future, and i believe that a C-5 was due over the weekend to start building stores up for the C-17's to fly to the ice.
The main quake was felt as far south as invercargill at the bottom of the south island, and as far north as new plymouth in the central north island. Thoughts are going to those who are in the emergency area.

Hayden

[kiwiracefan]

Just a quick update 60 hours after the big quake in NZ....
so far there are still no fatalities from the quake, though there is one person in serious condition in hospital after sustaining injuries due to falling debris.
The fault line the quake was centered on has lay dormant for approx 16,000 years and was unknown after a glacial period that covered up by falling rock deposits.
So far there have been over 90 aftershocks with some reaching 5.4 on the richter scale, central christchurch city remains on curfew and lockdown with only essential services allowed in.
The Territorial Army unit in Christchurch has been deployed to help relieve the Police many who have been on duty since the hours after the quake hit.

[Air Boss]

That fact that so few folks were injured, let alone no loss of life, is amazing!

Hang in there, Kiwi! Hope all the help you folks need is quick in coming.

Best to all,

[Leo]

New Zealand must have decent building codes. If you look at the country's that have huge death counts after a quake they have no regulations and the buildings are mud huts with no reinforcement, and construction with no thought of the consequaences. It is probably the one area where more regulation helps, and I am not a fan of regulation. Perfect example is Japan. They have quakes constantly but rarely casualties. Why? They expect them and build accordingly.

[kiwiracefan]

It has been amazing indeed that no one has lost their life.
As of today there have been some 300 aftershocks including one that was centered less than 15km from the centre of the city and was very shallow at 6km deep, and measured 5.1 on the richter scale. this has caused more damage to buildings with several buildings that were damaged now classed as unsafe for any use and will be demolished. Building damage alone has been estimated at $2 billion New Zealand dollars, with infastructure damage probably running into millions as well
Building standards are pretty good here in NZ, Most of the buildings that have been destroyed were around 60-100 years old.
The major fault line runs the entire length of the south island and is known as the Alpine fault. I am very lucky to live in a city that is furtherest from the main fault. We tend to feel quakes here, but not actually be close to them.
http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/...nt_quakes.html

This is a listing of the latest quakes, there are approx 50 on this page alone

[exstreamtv]

hi there
we are lucky to be based in auckland and have not been affected this time-
but our thoughts go out to the good people of christchurch. we are all thankful that miraculously no one has died.
possibly due to the time the major quake struck, some very good codes of compliance and good luck.

traditionally auckland and christchurch have a fairly "strong" rivalry, however in times like this we are very much feeling for the red and blacks.
trust you can all pull through and recover soon.

best wishes from the exstreamtv team