Aftershocks Continue to Shake Christchurch, New Zealand

Many Christchurch residents were awoken by a 4.2 magnitude aftershock just after 2am on the 26^th December. It was the first in what has been described as a swarm of aftershocks on that day. The largest of these measured 4.9 on the Richter scale and was centered within 5 kilometres of Christchurch central.

At the time, the city and malls were packed with shoppers looking for Boxing Day bargains and the aftershock caused alarm and fear as goods fell from shelves, ceiling tiles fell from above and bricks and mortar tumbled in the CBD. Approximately 40,000 homes were left without power although this was restored within an hour in most cases.

Miraculously, there were no injuries from the aftershock although many of the older buildings in town suffered new or further damage.

How have the Aftershocks Affected Christchurch Residents

The initial response to the Boxing Day aftershocks was disbelief mixed with fear and shock. Shopping was disrupted as many stores closed due to damage to buildings and stock. Parts of the city center were cordoned off and police were deployed to keep the public away from the damage.

Engineers were called in to reassess the state of the buildings and over the next two day, examined 5000 structures in the city. Over 100 of these were found to have new damage and some were red-stickered meaning access was denied.

During Boxing Day, an enterprising Christchurch resident manage to capture some video footage of an aftershock and the motion it caused in a suburban property. This was uploaded onto Youtube and has already had thousands of views.

Aftershocks in Christchurch in the New Year

Christchurch normally holds a traditional New Year celebration in Cathedral Square. There were fears this would be cancelled due to damage to buildings in the square. The Press in Christchurch reported on the 31^st December that the event would go ahead but asked the public to be aware of evacuation plans. In the event of further strong aftershocks, people were asked to keep calm and move quietly back to their cars and return home.

While the city did experience a number of aftershocks on the 31^st December, the strongest was a 4.1 magnitude and did not cause any further damage or upset.

Christchurch city suffered close on NZ$5 billion of damage in the September earthquake. This was followed by further damage on the 26^th December. The Earthquake Commission is treating the Boxing Day aftershocks as a separate earthquake for claim purposes. Experts say that the city may still suffer a few big shakes and the aftershocks will continue for some months still.

Reference:
Onsite reporting by Debbie Roome