Christchurch

Earthquakes do serious damage. You can’t really comprehend the immense damage an earthquake can produce until you’ve seen the impact close up. We visited Christchurch on the South Island this past week, and the city looks like an abandoned war zone. Christchurch has suffered through three large earthquakes recently in September 2010 (7.1 magnitude), February 2011 (6.3 magnitude), and June 2011 (6.3 magnitude). The February 2011 quake was the worse as it was centered only a few kilometers from the center of town. 181 people died making it the second most deadly natural disaster in New Zealand, and is estimated to have done $20-$30 Billion (NZ dollars) of damage making it the third costliest earthquake in world history. We drove through the streets almost a year later and still saw faces of buildings that were torn down, rubble in the streets, and a once busy downtown was abandoned except for construction workers working on repairs…..

Christchurch is the biggest city in the South Island and maintains a more laid back feel than Auckland and Wellington. The landscape is completely different as well as it’s completely flat, which makes you feel like you’re not in New Zealand at all. We didn’t spend much time in Christchurch as our ambitions for the trip were to visit the Southern Alps and the Glaciers, however our short stay did leave a big impression on us.

More coming in the next couple of days on the rest of our trip. Check back.