Serious Earthquake Hits Christchurch

Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 1:04 pm
Article: Scoop News

Serious Earthquake Hits Christchurch

This page was there breaking report of the Christchurch earthquake on 22/2/11. Continuing converage will be at Scoop Full Coverage: Christchurch Earthquake 22/2/11. See also the latest earthquake releases on Scoop and the scoop.co.nz frontpage.

A intense earthquake has hit Christchurch just before 1pm on the 22nd of Ferbruary 2001.

Official Helpline: 0800 779997

GNS initial estimates the 12:51 quake as 6.3 Richter Magnitude South of Christchurch at a 5km depth. This has been followed by many large aftershocks. [current earthquake drums, current recent earthquakes]

A police statement says there are reports of multiple fatalities at several locations in the central city, including two buses crushed by falling buildings.

There are reports of widespread damage and of building collapses, including the Cathedral spire. Buildings, including the airport, the hospital and the university have been evacuated.

[Civil Defence 3.30pm update notes the hospital is operational and the airport is open for emergency flights.]

For the injured, triage centres have been established for the injured at Latimer Square in the central city, Spotlight Mall in Sydenham and Sanitarium in Papanui.

Note that the NZ Blood Service reports that current blood supplies are sufficient and no new donors are required. The earthquake has caused power outages and broken water and sewer lines.

Mayor Bob Parker has declared a lcoal state of emergency.

There are reports all NZ airspace is closed due to damage at the Christchurch Airport tower air control base.

Landline and cellular phone service is intermittent. Phone users are encouraged not to overload phone lines with non-emergency calls. Text messages have been suggested.

Rolling coverage at NewsWire.co.nz

A Civil Defence advisory includes the following advice.

People in the affected area should:
• Expect aftershocks. Each time one is felt, drop, cover, and hold on.
• Check yourself first for injuries and get first aid if necessary before helping injured or trapped persons.
• Assess your home or workplace for damage. If the building appears unsafe get everyone out. Use the stairs, not an elevator and when outside, watch out for fallen power lines or broken gas lines. Stay out of damaged areas.
• Look for and extinguish small fires if it is safe to do so. Fire is a significant hazard following earthquakes.
• Listen to the radio for updated emergency information and instructions.
• Do not overload phone lines with non-emergency calls.
• Help people who require special assistance - infants, elderly people, those without transportation, families who may need additional help, people with disabilities, and the people who care for them.

Phone use should be restricted to emergency use for ALL OF NZ.

A personal account of the quake.

Christchurch Earthquake Photos

Christchurch Earthquake Photos 2

There was a ministerial statement on the earthquake before Parliamentary business was suspended today.

This earthquake follows the deeper 7.4 Earthquake hit Christchurch on September 4 and a number of aftershocks of magnitude near 5 since.

Top Scoops Headlines

COMMENT > >

Ramzy Baroud: Israel, Hawking And The Pressing Question Of Boycott

It is an event “of cosmic proportions”, said one Palestinian academic, a befitting description regarding Stephen Hawking’s decision to boycott an Israeli academic conference slated for next June. It was also a decisive moral call which was communicated on May 8 by Cambridge University, where Hawking is a professor. More>>

Binoy Kampmark: Angelina Jolie: Breasts, Celebrity And Choice

Popular culture, and celebrity, have come to this. A well-endowed personality, a figure of celluloid appeal, has to justify to the other-worldliness of an action personal and specific to the person in question. That a woman has to have a mastectomy brings with it pains within and without – not merely the challenges to her body but her family and friendship circle. In the case of celebrity... More>>

David Swanson: How Your Town Can Stop Drones

Local resolutions have helped advance many issues, including war opposition, when they've been passed in large numbers. When we passed a resolution in Charlottesville, Va., last year opposing any attack on Iran, I heard from numerous cities that wanted to do the same. As far as I know... More>>

John Spritzler: Uri Avnery's Specious Attack On The One State Solution

Uri Avnery may be the most sophisticated defender of Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. He defends this ethnic cleansing while posing as a great friend and sympathizer of Palestinians, supposedly proven by his opposition to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and support for a "two state solution." More>>

ALSO:

Uri Avnery - The Donkey of the Messiah

Syed Atiq ul Hassan: Pakistan: The Election Watered Down On Change Lovers

Political observers, experts and senior analysts were predicting that the election 2013 in Pakistan will write new history in the country. The 11th May 2013 election will bring a new change in the corrupt political system of Pakistan. Those who were praying for the betterment of Pakistan were expecting that the political system which has been dominated by feudal cum politicians... More>>

Binoy Kampmark: Stopping The Drones: Pakistan-US Relations In The High Court

Alternate realities in the conflict Pakistan is waging against insurgents in its tribal areas tend to be regular affairs. Intrinsic to them is the contorted relationship the country has with the United States, three bits domestic violence to two bits political expediency. This produces unhealthy effects, if one is to see Pakistani sovereignty as a creature that has been abused and discredited during the course of its campaign against “terror”. More>>

Ramzy Baroud: The Pain Of Bangladesh: T-Shirts Made With Blood And Tears

As they spoke to a BBC correspondent in their run-down room which they call home in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a man sobbed as his 12-year-old daughter sat close to him. His face, wrinkled before its time, was a picture of utter anguish. It could only be understood by a parent whose child was dying under giant slabs of concrete where nothing could be done. More>>

David Swanson: Death Penalty Dying Out

Most of the world's governments no longer use the death penalty. Among wealthy nations there is one exception remaining. The United States is among the top five killers in the world. Also in the top five: the recently "liberated" Iraq. But most of the United States' 50 states no longer use the death penalty. More>>