Reflections on the Canterbury / Christchurch Earthquakes of 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011 Dr Vaughan Wood photo-Gillian Needham

Summary Outline a) Geomorphological / historical context b) Seismological context c) 4 September 2010 event d) Notable aftershocks e) 22 February 2011 event f) Short term responses g) Ongoing recovery & remediation

Christchurch (pop ~ ) Tourism Agribusiness Regional admin. Light industry *

Adapted from Bedford & Sturman (eds), Canterbury at the Crossroads (1983), p 31

‘The city built on a swamp’ The Avon River in foreground and the Canterbury Provincial Council building under construction in the rear (Photograph by Dr AC Barker, 1858) Reproduced from Cookson & Dunstall (eds.) Southern Capital - Christchurch (2000), p 19

Natural vegetation in Christchurch as recorded on the ‘black maps’ in the mid-1850s (i.e. at the time of the arrival of Canterbury Association settlers) Reproduced from Bedford & Sturman (eds) Canterbury at the crossroads (1983), p 23 O

Reproduced from M Douglass (compiler), Christchurch City Centre: 40 years of change, traffic, planning (2000)

Complex boundary of Pacific plate & Indo-Australian plate Subduction of Pacific plate off North Island, but in South Island, it is pushing up over the Indo-Australian plate, with strike-slip motion along Alpine Fault Reproduced from Cowan, ‘Structure, Seismicity and Tectonics of the Porter’s Pass -Amberley Fault Zone’ (Phd thesis, U of Canterbury, 1992)

Reproduced from Cowan (1992)

Adapted from Cowan (1992)

Adapted from Wards (ed.) New Zealand Atlas (1976), p 78