Christchurch- land of the Earthquake(s)

We arrived to Christchurch on Saturday night. The next day we were able to walk around town a little before it was time to drop me off at Habitat Christchurch. The town is still very much in the process of recovering from the earthquake last year. The whole of down-town is still shut down- RED ZONE. There have been 10,000 aftershocks since the big earthquake in September 2010, the deadly earthquake was a few months later. We were going to visit the Canterbury Museum, which was open last month- it was closed due to Earthquakes, as are many art galleries. However, the city is recovering. As part of the recovery they have built an outdoor mall using shipping containers. it is pretty neat. On the whole my friends agree that it is nicer then Dunedin- which I miss dearly.

A tower top

And its tower

Brazing up the Museum walls

Container Mall!

Container mall

When I got dropped off at Habitat Christchurch someone took me on a walk to the nearby pier. On the way we looked at the damage. There are large green tubs lining the corners of streets- you might think they were for water- thing again. They were for human waste! And they still are here! I also saw some things affected by liquefaction. The roads have sunk around bridges which had better foundations and did not move as much. I also saw homes boarded up and shut down. Some gas tanks were forced to the surface by it. I also saw a building that was lying askew in the ground. This is still very much a city that is recovering. However it still retains some beauty, which I was able to capture at the pier and along my walk home.

Liquefaction- very powerful

The Pier

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The Library

The top was removed by the 

Earthquake

Black Swans

At the end of that day I had experienced 4 earthquakes. One of which was a Richtor 4.8! The building I was in visibly shook for a few seconds. Fortunately everything was fine, but this was the biggest quake sine January. Good timing on my part. Click on this link if you want to see how I am being shook in Christchurch: Look at the latest Christchurch Earthquakes Here!