New Zealand Earthquake 2010: Strong Quake Shakes Christchurch

A strong earthquake rattled New Zealand at 4:35 a.m. local time Saturday morning. The USGS posted a magnitude of 7.2.

The quake epicenter was four miles south-southeast from Christchurch, New Zealand, on the nation's south island. Local media reports there have been strong aftershocks and power outages throughout the city.

Christchurch is New Zealand's second largest city with a population of approximately 372,000.

Some Twitter users in Christchurch were awoken by the earthquake and tweeted about it:

@mojomathers: OMG! That was a freakin big earthquake. Stuff broken. Ongoin aftershocks. Hope everyone ok

@the4avenues: CRAZY earthquake in #Christchurch this morning! That got me out of bed faster than any alarm-clock.

@julierodenberg: 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch. It shook the water out of the toilet bowl. Crazy!

@sezzyrose: Earthquake woke me up at 4:55am! Broke my wine glass and knocked some stuff around - freaky stuff!!

@kylierichardson: Streetlights all out by our place. At home power ok #earthquake

This is a developing story...

Comments

[Ozonator]

12:43 AM on 09/07/2010

“A). ... Global warming is also known as AGW (anthropogenic global warming). ... 1). ... b). ... With condolences, “ ... widespread damage ...” (“7.0 magnitude earthquake shakes New Zealand”; AFP; news.yahoo.com, 9/3/10). I predicted “AGW energy may try to make Asia “roll” over Australia producing a series of AGW quakes” , “New Zealand (7+)” under 7/4 - 10/10 and “New Zealand (6+)” under 7/18 - 24/10 with “C). ... 6). 6-week model ... New Zealand, 11). 12-week model ... New Zealand”. ... “‘Yes, we plead guilty to promoting ‘inaction’—‘Skeptics will proudly celebrate the collapse of Copenhagen Treaty’. ... Climate Depot takes full responsibility for the fate of your children and grandchildren from any future man-made climate catastrophe” (“Australian PM warns skeptics ‘are too ‘dangerous to ignore’ and are ‘holding the world to ransom’”, By Marc ‘Eskimo cyst’ Morano, Climate Depot Editorial”; editorial abuse by Joseph D’Aleo; icecap.us, 11/6/09)” (GBRWE 9/5 - 11/10's Extreme Planetary Warnings for Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Solar/Terrestrial Flares from Human Activities; Robert Rhodes, Supplemental; GBRWE 9/5 - 11/10, 9/5/10).

[Dogs And Cats]

02:53 PM on 09/09/2010

Can't make any sense of this, nor does it seem particularly on topic. Where's the moderator?

[Simon Dyer]

12:49 AM on 09/06/2010

I am in Christchurch - today is Monday and the scary shakes are still happening, each one makes me grab to hold on, and the building noise is really weird.
I made a video of my family during the quake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sDrValmq-E

[David Christensen]

08:42 PM on 09/05/2010

Hope everyone is ok.

[dansup]

04:11 AM on 09/05/2010

was there a tsunami warning issued?

[robphilnz]

05:12 PM on 09/05/2010

N. Was not necessary.

[cybogoblin]

05:33 PM on 09/05/2010

No, the earthquake was too far inland to cause a tsunami. There were some people worried about one when it happened, but that was before people knew where the epicentre was.

[bobbyvassallo]

03:55 PM on 09/06/2010

Wrong Cybogoblin!
Christchurch IS on the coast. The earthquake was not on a beach, or in the water, but within 5 miles of it. A warning would have been of no benefit, though. Christchurch needs tsunami warnings for the ones coming from elsewhere. The Chilean quake of 1960 destroyed Christchurch. An earthquake from Chile would give NZ approximately at least a 12 hour notice to get to higher ground and to protect belongings.

[pierre F Lherisson]

01:44 PM on 09/04/2010

An earthquake is a seismic movement that occurs inside the crust of the earth because of a sudden release of energy. Thereby it creates seismic waves. Thousands of earthquakes with relatively low intensity occurred around the world every day. However, 2010 will be listed among the worst years for earthquake in term of death and destruction.
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/other/quake1.html

It started in Haiti on January 12th 2010 where an earthquake of 7.3 on the R/S caused over a quarter of millions of death. Subsequently, on February 27th 2010 an earthquake of 8.8 on the R/S struck Chile causing the earth axis to tilt and thereby will continue to shorten the length of the days for ever by about 1.26 microseconds.

We are unable to predict when or where an earthquake will occur. Therefore we need more research in the field of geology

[bobbyvassallo]

01:03 PM on 09/04/2010

Austin based, Valley Wireless, just designed one New Zealand city and approached 3 others about building emergency networks for this exact situation. Valley Wireless personnel visited officials in Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington, with Dunedin's city manager and staff the only interested parties. Tsunami alerts are extremely important in this region.

The visit and assessment of risk showed lack of preparation and no signs of an emergency network in any of these towns. As seen in Haiti, these vital systems must be in place. Usually all forms of communications fail leaving law enforcement and emergency workers helpless to communicate internally or out to the world.

We pray for the injured.
Bobby Vassallo
http://recentearthquakes.net

[robphilnz]

11:08 PM on 09/05/2010

No doubt you have now read more about the responses to our earthquake, and realised that there may have been "no sign" to the visitors, but the Civil Defence system was running smoothly within a very short time, and in control of all services. We all know that our country is prone to earthquakes, so are probably more prepared on both an individual and collective basis than most countries. Preparedness is more important than warning systems for earthquakes, because they can come completely out of the blue, as this one has, from a previously unknown fault line.

The low injury toll is also testament to the preparedness of the population and our tight building codes. We are taught how to respond to earthquakes from childhood and the last page of our Yellow Pages Directories includes instructions on preparation for, survival of, and what to do" afterwards.

Since 1931 building codes have been progressively updated to match increasing knowledge of seismology events.

Furthermore, there was already ongoing research for national, rather than regional, warning systems to be installed, and connection into the Pacific tsunami warning system.

People interviewed since the event have repeatedly spoken of standing under a doorway during the first quake, and getting out afterwards.

[direct democracy]

12:49 PM on 09/04/2010

It's back to Mordor, Frodo!

[napoleon68]

08:27 PM on 09/04/2010

yeah, it's just mount doom erupting from the one ring being dropped into it. they have to watch for barad dur collapsing though. and at least we KNOW how this tower fell unlike 3 others!

seriously, my cousin lives there. i am so glad that there were no deaths or real serious injuries. thank god!

[Kevin Atlanta]

08:33 AM on 09/04/2010

Just give Pat Robertson a few and he'll blame it on Armistead Maupin in residence in Christchurch.

[robiform]

07:29 AM on 09/04/2010

Sending good thoughts to the people of Christchurch and surrounding areas. I visited Christchurch 23 years ago, and thought it was one of the loveliest cities in the world. Both the South and North islands of NZ are in geologically active zones, so an earthquake isn't uncommon there. I wonder if there is a building code similar to the one in California?

[Luis Soto]

05:03 AM on 09/04/2010

- In the past 50 days, the Earth has experienced a total of 10 earthquakes higher than 7 in the Richter scale, when many years there is only 1 each month… Most of them are taking place in the antipodes region of CERN at great depth, showing inner disturbances in the gravitomagnetic fields of the planet.
- 2010 is statistically the highest year on record on earthquakes for all categories, except for the man-made surge during II world war carpet bombing in 1943.
- There are 3 possible ways in which the LHC can cause earthquakes:
A) If the magnetic field of the magnets drawn above interact with other magnetic fields in the magma.
B)If it made black holes or strangelets that are now in the center of the Earth, slowly eating the planet.
C) If it produces perpendicular gravitational waves, affecting the antipodes (Tonga, Fidji region), which is reaching a maximal with occurrences at very deep level (over 500 km.)
- Since the company just have announced it will start production of strangelets - a cosmic explosive that could big-bang the Earth - this 11/9, contradicting all its prior statements, a cautionary stop of that machine and serious studies on its effects, which so far have been carried only by employees of the company, is long overdue for obvious bio-ethical reasons, since this year is also on the path to be the peak on human deads caused by Earthquakes.
More on this at:
http://www.cerntruth.com

[CoronaDischarge]

05:16 PM on 09/04/2010

That is rubbish that shows a profound misunderstanding of the physics involved in the large hadron collider.

Shameless fear mongering. You should be ashamed to even spam it.

[jess jo123]

04:46 AM on 09/04/2010

Good luck to all you kiwis. You are a resiliant race of people who will help each other all the way.

New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

[dansup]

04:12 AM on 09/05/2010

yes, best wished to you all - went to nzed for the first time last year - wonderful in every way

[moha222]

11:37 PM on 09/05/2010

All love to New Zealand ..so nice people .. amazing place ... for me :

New Zealand is the beautiful places on earth

[tommy ding]

04:04 AM on 09/04/2010

http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/wikileaks-turns-julian-assange-may-be-way-out#comment-84225

[Beth Boyle]

01:37 AM on 09/04/2010

This really surprised me. I did not know New Zealand could get big quakes.

[Travis C]

04:18 AM on 09/04/2010

New Zealand sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', so we do often get quakes, but we have been lucky in that up until now most were in relatively secluded areas. That, plus our mountains act as shock absorbers.

[Beth Boyle]

12:57 PM on 09/04/2010

Sorry to see those nice old buildings all ruined. I would love to see New Zealand some day. I have sheep and NZ has many! You also have fantastic wildlife and scenery don't you? I am glad there were not serious injuries with this quake. I hope you recover quickly, Travis.

[Coinyer101]

08:45 AM on 09/04/2010

They right on top of a fault, but, they aren't 'common' there....,

[Nikki Star]

07:11 AM on 09/05/2010

Wrong, we have around 15,000 shakes a year. Just don't feel most of them :)

[omobob]

11:12 PM on 09/03/2010

No mention of quake duration. Because of the reports of no deaths, thank goodness, i assume it was brief. Rode one for 8 seconds in 1989 at The Worlds Series and it seemed like forever.

[Forester]

12:35 AM on 09/04/2010

Go A's!!!!

[omobob]

11:45 AM on 09/04/2010

Fifty-seven of the deaths were directly caused by the earthquake. Wake up and smell the coffee.

[RainDance33]

12:45 AM on 09/04/2010

Was 50 seconds long but I bet it felt a lot longer for those involved, with a series of severe aftershocks. The Haiti quake was 7.0 this one was 7.1 and very shallow. The low casualty rates (only 2 serious at this stage) can be put down to the time of day (4.30 am) and earthquake prevention measures in building standards which are very high. I was several hundred miles away and was still enough to knock things off our shelves.

[Coinyer101]

10:48 PM on 09/03/2010

I haven't done any earthquake predicting lately, but, I recommend folks near Fiji and Am. Samoa be wary for the next 3-8 days.....,they could get a 5.5 to a 6.5 in that time.....,

[Angie Cordeiro]

12:26 AM on 09/04/2010

I'll go off topic here...you've got 2002 fans, who will be 2012?

[StephenJK]

07:05 AM on 09/04/2010

Terence McKenna's ghost....

[Coinyer101]

08:43 AM on 09/04/2010

flossophy? That's all that's left, I think....,lol

[PotomacOracle]

07:33 AM on 09/06/2010

Do you have this link in your favorites? it's a great source for global quakes.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html