All shook up

Early yesterday morning (in NZ anyhow) I had just started talking to Bob on Skype when his video image visibly shook for a few seconds. "Another earthquake", he said nonchalantly. The second already that morning.  More were to follow.


On September 4 last year, just after 4am, Christchurch experienced a 7.1 earthquake.  Most adroit followers of world news knew of that event, which completely disappeared from the newsworthy radar within three days (I mean, J-Lo's romantic involvements are far more interesting than an earthquakes on the other side of the world!).  Since that initial quake there have been over 4400 (!!) aftershocks. If you want to see more about Christchurch earthquakes click here!


In the world of devastating quakes, the CHCH shaker created less excitement than most, not because of its force -which was pretty worthy of attention- but because there was no loss of life and only moderate damage.  Now it is still a BIG deal in CHCH because businesses and homeowners are still dealing with damage and cleanup.  Parts of the City Centre are cordoned off, many homes have been condemned and tourism has suffered. But because of conscientious adherence to building codes for over half a century most damage was minor.  Older brick buildings frequently lose their masonry cornices, tumbling bricks down into the streets, but, fortunately so far, few people have been standing below to watch the flying bricks.


That's not to say that the quakes aren't unnerving.  Every little shake sets people on edge. Yesterday was no exception.  The Christchurch Press ran an article about the level of anxiety in many Canterburians. So did the on-line news service Stuff.


I chatted briefly with an 82-year old resident while I was visiting the Christchurch Art Gallery about the scale and effect of the earthquakes.  She was mostly disturbed by the damage being caused to the old buildings, "that's our history".


She was personally not too anxious, "Heck, I'm 82, why should I be afraid of something falling on me?"

Braces added to the walls of the Museum blend into the motif of the building.

Some of the older buildings are still vulnerable and some may be lost.  The cathedral made it through the September quake fairly well (at least it was open when we arrived) but was fenced off when we returned from our road trip in January. I saw several historic buildings -circa 1880-90- that had huge steel braces holding up the exterior walls.  It seems that some, like the museum were retrofitted sometime earlier. But history is at risk, no doubt about it.

Steel braces on the old theater in Littelton hold the building's brick front wall in place.

The fear of earthquakes and the potential loss of historic sites are two additional factors affecting tourism.  Already the world economy and the weaker US dollar are  taking a toll. But if someone has the money to travel and has been thinking about New Zealand, it is still a grand place to visit.