A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch of New Zealand during the lunchtime period, 12.51 pm, on February 22, 2011. New Zealand rescuers worked through the night to save trapped survivors after a catastrophic earthquake that left 400 people dead or missing. In order to rescue survivors trapped under the rubble, rescuers had to amputate their limbs to bring them out of the ruins of the buildings. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key had declared the earthquake event as a national emergency as it is the worst natural disaster in 80 years. The current earthquake was the deadliest to strike New Zealand since the 1931 tremor that took a
way 256 lives. It followed six months after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that weakened buildings in Christchurch on September 2010. Christchurch is New Zealand’s second largest city.
Despite the smaller magnitude of the 2011 quake as compared to the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010, the 2011 earthquake was more destructive as it was closer to the city centre of Christchurch and much closer to the Earth’s surface. This is so as the earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 5 km during the lunch hour when Christchurch was at its busiest. In comparison, the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in September 2010 had the epicentre occurring around 40 km west of the city, which proceeded to rupture away from major built-up areas.
The tremor also sent the spire of Christchurch Cathedral, a landmark of the city centre, toppling into the square below. The area outside the cathedral resembled that of a ‘warzone’. The military had already been roped in to facilitate the rescue operations and the New Zealand government has already accepted specialist aid from Australia. Power supplies were disrupted and a series of aftershock of magnitude 5.0 further devastated the city and impeded rescue operations. New Zealand is subjected to more than 14,000 earthquakes annually, of which around 20 of them possessed a magnitude of more than 5.0. This is so as New Zealand sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the zone subjected to frequent events of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand is straddled between 2 major plates: the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates. It had been estimated that the 6.3 magnitude earthquake could bring about losses of up to $12 billion, the most expensive natural disaster following the loss of $19.9 billion when Hurricane Ike struck the United States in 2008.
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