Earthquakes Leave Trail of Empty Lots in Christchurch
Day 42, South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand Cruise
Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022; Lyttelton/Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand.
Of course I remember reading about the destruction in the Christchurch area of New Zealand caused by earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. I was interested in seeing the aftermath. But – duh – more than a decade later, the main visual reminder is the large number of vacant lots, many turned into car parks.
The initial earthquake hit the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand on Sept. 4, 2010, during the night. The magnitude 7.1 quake was followed in the next several months by numerous aftershocks. One of those struck Christchurch on Feb. 22, 2011, and was much more destructive, killing 185 people. Buildings lost: 1,240; thus all the vacant lots.
We docked this morning in Lyttelton, a harbor town about 20 minutes from Christchurch. My tour encompassed a bus ride to Christchurch, a morning-tea tram ride through downtown and another tram ride through the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.
Trams once were the main form of public transportation. Now, they are for tourist purposes, offering various sightseeing expeditions. Ours was a dining car with small booths. Unfortunately, in an effort to give each booth some privacy, the view was limited to directly out the windows, and blinds blocked looking upward. With few tall buildings left, that was not a major problem.
We were served tea and coffee in china cups, along with finger sandwiches, scones and pastries. During our hour-long circle of the downtown area, our guide told us about the history of Christchurch, the earthquake and the rebuilding.
With so much damage, some buildings are still in disrepair with scaffolding and metal supports seemingly stuck in time. For example, the Te Matatiki Toi Ora Arts Center’s Gothic revival buildings have mostly been repaired. But the insurance settlement is now exhausted, so two of the most badly damaged buildings are temporarily strengthened, awaiting new funds from future generations. They estimate this temporary solution will last 25 years.
At the Botanic Gardens, we boarded a small tram for a tour of these extensive gardens. The first tree was planted in 1863 to commemorate the marriage of Prince Albert and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Various collections represent local and exotic plants, conservatories, nurseries and a section of the Avon River.
If I lived in Christchurch, I would come every month, as it seems something different is coming into bloom at all times. Skies were sunny with highs in the mid 70s F, so the streets and parks were full of families enjoying a late spring day.
As we were leaving Lyttelton today, the captain announced that our Covid isolation numbers are at 11 guests and 2 crew members — up 10 from yesterday. There was an audible gasp in the Crow’s Nest. Earlier today I saw a little more than half the passengers wearing masks, but maybe that number will increase now. The captain reminded us that masks are required indoors when not eating or drinking.
Thanks Jo for writing about the aftermath of the earthquake. The first earthquake as you mentioned was in September 2010. We were there in December of 2010 visiting two sets of friends in Christchurch. We even ate in the lunchroom next to the Cathedral which we first climbed the spire in 1976!
In February 2011, they had another devastating earthquake. I believe it was during that quake that Chinese students and Japanese students were killed when the Television station high rise building and parking lot collapsed. More people died then than during the original earthquake. And if that wasn’t enough, there was another bad aftershock in May that destroyed everything that had been damaged in the original earthquake beyond repair. We took lots of photos of all the damaged buildings with police tape around them. We saw roads ruined in the countryside.
We live in California and we have never seen such damage as was afflicted on Christchurch. TV reported while we were there that there had been over 7000 aftershocks. Our friends were okay as they didn’t live in the city center which was affected by the liquefaction of the soil.
Lyttelton also suffered damage. The cruise port was moved to Akoroa. There was a building similar to the one in Greenwich that had a red time ball that dropped at exactly 1 PM. That way ships could calibrate their clocks. The mechanized toile ball stopped working during the earthquake, but has since been restored.
What interesting details, Sharon! I didn’t know all of that. We did get a description about Littelton’s damage, and the captain pointed out the ball that dropped to give sailors the correct time.
I’m still impressed with getting a phone call from New Zealand! It sounds as though the weather warmed up to a nice temp for most of your day. I knew nothing about those earthquakes, so you offered some interesting history and I’d love to shop that bookstore.
I woke up to my phone sounding a text alert at 6 a.m. — Dick and Diane were drinking wine in Paris and forgot that some people don’t turn off their phones at night. Plus, it was raining–but God made it stop by the time I had to leave for our 8:30 run-through of the the celebration service. Which went off beautifully–even the bell choir’s contribution. The traditional sanctuary wasn’t at full capacity, but a big crowd. Of course, we couldn’t see how many were in the other worship space, but I think the church leadership was pleased with the turnout.
I’m glad to hear the morning’s celebration service went well, Daisy! And book shopping might have been fun, but I can’t buy a single thing unless I unload something from my luggage. Next time I’ll bring a bigger suitcase!
Neat photos and narrative. Some damage from those earthquakes. Here on the Mississippi, the water is incredibly low exposing huge sand dunes everywhere. Even sat anchored for nearly 25 hours north of Memphis today as one huge barge came loose and blocked the only area we could get through. As that was being cleaned up another barge came loose from another tug and blocked everything up again . . . hence the 25 hours sitting idle. So as far as we know we missed seeing Memphis. Have not hear where we will stop next due to water levels and the amount of barge traffic moving up and down the Mississippi. Watercolor classes are going well. I actually all day today and yesterday due to having to wait for clearance to move. Sort of nice as I had some people who would have been on tours. Looking forward to your next release . . .
Barbara, it’s really eerie how low the Mississippi has gotten! Sorry you are missing Memphis, but enjoy the extra time to paint.