Another major Earthquake strikes Christchurch NZ...multiple fatalities confirmed

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/22/3145320.htm

[Smid]

New Zealand Herald

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[Platypus]

PM Key says 65 dead and the number will rise. All my thoughts are with the Kiwis.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Terrible

[Silent Hunter]

Terrible. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected.

[afleitch]

Terrible news. What I noticed in the photographs, as sadly is often the case, one building will collapse while the building next to it will be fine. Sometimes new buildings beat the old, sometimes old buildings beat the new.

[patrick1]

It is crazy how much the epicentre and depth can play a difference. Before I really had to start studying quakes, I would focus on the magnitude when watching the news. From the USGS data it looks like the Sept quake was as shallow but just west of the city in the suburbs. This one looks like it was centered just south of the city by the harbor- a lot closer and also higher chance of liquefaction.  From the reports out, it looks similar to the Kobe quake in that liquefaction was a huge culprit in damages.

Prayers to the victims and best of luck to responders.

[Platypus]

75 and climbing. Some of the circumstances comeing out are tragic.

New Zealand's most beautiful city will never be the same :/

[Lunar]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/world/asia/26briefs-Newzealand.html

The death toll from the earthquake in Christchurch on Tuesday has risen to 144, the police said Saturday. About 226 people remain missing, officials said. Water and power supplies to thousands have been cut, and many people have been forced to sleep in their cars or tents as their houses sway with the relentless aftershocks.


As terrible as it is, imagine my shock when the top result on Google news was this article: http://en.rian.ru/world/20110226/162768395.html

"The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand's second biggest city, has risen to 145 while another 200,000 people are missing, local media said."

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Some good news for a change. (link)  They have finished searching the ruins of the Christchurch cathedral and despite initial fears that as many as 22 people might be buried there, no one was there.

[Torie]

Does the place have inadequate building codes? If its codes track those in California, that is very sobering.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It has fairly decent ones, but keep in mind that this was the second major quake to strike in under a year, and the second one was shallower and closer to the center of Christchurch, even if in absolute magnitude it was less powerful.  It also hit at a bad time of day, and the first hit at a good time of day. To the degree that there appears to have been a government problem involved, initial indications are they may have a bit too quick to give a thumbs up concerning damage sustained in the first quake.

[Platypus]

www.showusyourlongdrop.co.nz

I have to say, the Kiwis are doing remarkably well in the circumstances. I've got a lot of respect for their response to the earthquake.