Christchurch

What happened
On September 4 last year, Christchurch was struck by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake which caused widespread damage but no fatalities. The quake that shook the city in February this year was of a lesser magnitude, at 6.3, but it had far more dire consequences.

The quake struck early afternoon local time. It was morning here in Australia and The Punch team remembers watching the scenes of horror unfold on the multiple TV monitors in our office. The quake exacerbated much of the damage done by the previous one. In total, 181 were killed.

You could tell things were bad when you saw the severe damage to Christchurch’s signature building, the 19th century cathedral in the main city square. But the real devastation happened both in the suburbs and at other buildings in the city – in particular the Canterbury Television Building, where over half the deaths occurred.

Continue reading "Biggest moments of 2011 #12 Christchurch crumbles" »

An old lady rang Tony Delroy’s late-night program on ABC Radio after midnight on Tuesday with a complaint. She was a contestant in his popular quiz, and before she tried to answer a general knowledge question, she chatted with Delroy about how fed up she was with the saturation coverage the Christchurch earthquake was receiving.

She said she couldn’t believe that most of the free to air television stations had interrupted their regular programming to run continuous coverage of this event. She was upset that her usual soaps and game shows weren’t on. It’s probably not as upsetting as being in a massive earthquake, but there you go.

It struck me as a selfish and heartless complaint. But perhaps this old lady had an acutely-developed sense of that natural human repulsion towards tragedy.

Continue reading "The media takes no joy from tragedy" »

These past two days I’ve been gazing at my fellow office workers and wondering: If an earthquake struck here, who would be a hero? Who would run back into the crumbling building for a mate, who would risk their life for another?

I had imagined that, of the hundreds of people, a few would shine.

Maybe that chick over there that always looks calm and competent. Maybe not that bloke who can never manage eye contact.

I also wondered what I would do and had a terrifying thought that I would be a panicker, a useless screamer (or swearer, more likely) who only contributed to the chaos.

But, as it turns out, more people are everyday heroes than I thought.

Continue reading "Humanity. Much better than expected." »

Christchurch, on New Zealand’s South Island, has been struck by a second major earthquake in six months. Full coverage with live updates and streaming video is available here

At this stage, damage appears far worse – and there are certainly more casualties, including fatalities – than the 7.1 magnitude September 2010 quake, even though this one was “only” magnitude 6.3.

Phone lines to Christchurch are currently working, but extremely congested. Emergency services are asking that people only ring the area for emergency purposes, so you’ll excuse us for failing to get immediate on-the-ground comment.

Continue reading "Christchurch: a great city, a tragic tragic day" »