6.3 and 5.9 Earthquakes Hit Christchurch New Zealand February 22 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

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Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Steven Joyce

24 February, 2011

Govt expresses grave concern for Kings Education missing

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has this afternoon expressed grave concern for the staff and students of Kings Education, a private training establishment located on the third floor of the collapsed CTV Building.

Kings Education is an international education private training establishment with students from a number of countries around the world.

Mr Joyce has spoken with Kings Education Director John Ryder to offer any additional support the government can give.

?I've also spoken with the Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully who assures me that foreign affairs staff in Christchurch are in close contact with embassies and consulates.?

Mr Joyce says Kings Education is working with Police and other authorities on the ground to try and ascertain the whereabouts of those who are unaccounted for.

?While there are a number of missing students thought to be in the CTV Building we cannot discount the chance that some students will be safe elsewhere.

?If anyone has any information about students from the college, please contact the Police urgently.

?This is a very sad day for the families concerned, the countries who have students at Kings Education involved, the New Zealand international education community and the country as a whole.

?Our thoughts are with all of those who been affected by this tragedy,? says Mr Joyce.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/govt-expresses-grave-concern-kings-education-missing

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

From Kiwibird (post 75):

University of Canterbury students have spent the day digging out properties that have been covered with silt. I am very proud to say I have a daughter amongst the "uni army". :applause:

-----------------------------------------

Paula Bennett

24 February, 2011


Students step up and Government backs them

A volunteer army of Christchurch students is stepping up to help people in Christchurch and we?re backing them with funding says Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

?Just as they did after last September?s earthquake, students led by Sam Johnson are swinging into action and it?s truly humbling to see,? says Paula Bennett.

Funding of $20,000 has been approved for the student clean up.

The money will help pay for equipment like wheelbarrows and shovels so they can continue with cleaning up liquefaction, clearing driveways and helping residents with basic labouring work.

?I met with Sam and his team last year when we helped out with $5,000 for equipment and pizzas to keep them going, this time the work is even harder and we need them even more,? says Ms Bennett.

?What we saw last time round was a group of genuine, willing, hard-working students who gave locals practical help as well as a real morale boost,? says Ms Bennett.

?Residents were just so appreciative of the help and were so amazed at the willingness young people showed to get stuck in to what is hard work to assist others,? says Ms Bennett.

The students are organising themselves through social networking site Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StudentVolunteerArmy

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/students-step-and-government-backs-them

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Anne Tolley

24 February, 2011

Update on Canterbury schools

Education Minister Anne Tolley says while Christchurch City schools and early childhood education centres remain closed until further notice, some schools in Selwyn and Waimakariri may be able to open after the weekend, following the devastating earthquake.

There are 215 schools across Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn with around 76,000 students, and 415 ECE services.

?We are doing all we can to support schools and ECE centres at this difficult time,? says Mrs Tolley.

?A team of 30 Ministry of Education assessors is currently working its way around schools to determine how safe they are and the extent of the damage, but it?s already clear that many have been badly affected.

?While it?s too early to give an overall assessment, we know there has been significant damage to Christchurch Girls High, Avonside Girls High, Shirley Boys High, Manning Intermediate, Mount Pleasant Primary, and Van Asch Deaf Education Centre.

?Schools in and around the cordoned-off CBD area are also likely to be seriously damaged. They are Hagley Community College, Discovery Primary, Unlimited Secondary, Catholic Cathedral College and St Paul's, Christchurch East Primary, Southern Regional Health School, St Mary?s School, St Michael?s, Christ College and Cathedral Grammar School.

?The Ministry is currently working on alternative arrangements for students who won?t initially be able to return to their schools, and more information will be made available in due course.

?Schools in Selwyn and Waimakariri may be able to open for staff tomorrow, if buildings meet health and safety requirements and if staff members are available, given the personal challenges some will be facing. Boards can then decide to open for students from Monday, if they are satisfied they are providing a safe environment and if communities are happy for them to do so.?

Parents should contact their school for further information. The Ministry website at www.minedu.govt.nz will be constantly updated with information on school openings.

The Ministry is offering support through its traumatic incident service, which can be contacted on 0800 848 326.

There is also a helpline for schools and ECE staff wanting further information on 0800 225 580.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/update-canterbury-schools

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

New Zealand earthquake rescue efforts now in full swing

With the New Zealand earthquake death toll now at 98, authorities have mounted the country's largest-ever rescue operation in a bid to save as many of the 226 missing people as they can.

Recovery operation personnel worked Thursday on the destroyed CTV building in Christchurch, New Zealand. The city was hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake Tuesday.
Rob Griffith/AP

By David Cohen, Correspondent / February 24, 2011
Wellington, New Zealand

Since Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake leveled New Zealand's second-largest city, Christchurch, officials have been scrambling to mount what has become the largest search-and-rescue operation in the South Pacific nation's 170-year history.
...

So far, success stories are scant. Rescuers haven't been "getting a huge number of positive responses from the buildings where we would expect there to be more people trapped alive,? Prime Minister John Key told reporters in Wellington today. Still, recent rescue operations for more damaging earthquakes in Chile and Haiti proved that persistence pays. One teenage girl in Haiti, for instance, was saved after being trapped under rubble for 15 days.

Full text:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia...d-earthquake-rescue-efforts-now-in-full-swing


---------------------------------------------------

The story of the teenager girl saved after being trapped for 15 days:

Post #20
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138953

 

[LaMenchos]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

The effects of terrain liquefaction and the People's heartbreak - NZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WoKu5VxKgs

 

[makoto]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Japanese quake survivor in New Zealand waited 9 hours in darkness for rescue

A 19-year-old Japanese girl pulled out from a collapsed building in earthquake-ravaged Christchurch said she waited to be rescued for about nine hours in total darkness....

....Describing the moment of the earthquake, she also told her teacher, "We were plunged into darkness. Professor Kiyu called out the names of six or seven students. Some of them responded, but others didn't. I was very scared."......

(Mainichi Japan) February 24, 2011 http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20110224p2a00m0na013000c.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Twenty Chinese listed as missing in Christchurch quake

10:54 PM Thursday Feb 24, 2011

BEIJING - Twenty Chinese students at an English language school in Christchurch are missing following the massive tremor, Beijing says.

A number of Chinese nationals are believed to have been in class on Tuesday when the shallow 6.3 magnitude quake struck, flattening the CTV building that housed the school, China Central Television reported on its website.

Some of those students have not responded to frantic calls or text messages sent by their relatives, CCTV said, adding police believed some of the students may have been sent to hospital.

More...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708589

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Christchurch earthquake: Filipino nurses 'praying to God for miracle'

6:37 PM Thursday Feb 24, 2011

A desperate plea for rescue by six Filipino nurses trapped inside the CTV building have emerged following fears up to 120 people are still entombed in one of the focal points of Christchurch's deadly earthquake.

About 30 minutes after the quake created havoc in the central city on Tuesday, Rhea Mae Sumalpong from Cebu province sent a text to her mother Marlene in Australia begging her for assistance.

"Ma, we're trapped at CTV building. We need help, please rescue us," Ms Sumalpong said in a text reproduced by the Inquirer Visayas newspaper.

More...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708499

 

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Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Christchurch quake death toll over 100

updated 02:59
Published: 6:59AM Thursday February 24, 2011 Source: ONE News

Police and Civil Defence told ONE News this morning the confirmed death toll has now risen by four to a total of 102 people.

Prime Minister John Key said last night indications are that "the loss of life could be more substantial than any one of us had ever dreamed of".

But police are continuing to emphasis that it is still a rescue mission.

More...
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/christchurch-quake-death-toll-over-100-4039516

 

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Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

14 Filipino students trapped in New Zealand rubble

By ROY C. MABASA
February 24, 2011, 7:31pm

MANILA, Philippines ? Fourteen Filipino students are among those trapped at the Canterbury Television (CTV) building, which collapsed after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, leaving at least 98 people dead and over 200 still missing.

This was confirmed following text messages of the victims to their relatives.

With this development, a Philippine team has asked the government of New Zealand, which has already shifted its efforts to retrieval and recovery, to continue with its search and rescue operations.


More...
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/306132/14-filipino-students-trapped-new-zealand-rubble

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Christchurch earthquake - Death toll passes 100


25 February, 2011 - 03:10

The death toll from the Christchurch Earthquake is now 102 and this figure is still expected to rise.

The list of people who are unaccounted for, and where there is significant concern that they are in the CBD, remains around 200. It is likely that a large number of those who have died will be on that list but that cross-matching can only be carried out once there have been formal identifications.

An American Urban Search and Rescue Team has now arrived in New Zealand to join teams from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and China. A team from the UK is also en route and once they arrive there will be nearly 700 USAR teams and civil defence volunteers working on the rescue operation.

http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/27260.html

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Christchurch earthquake - overwhelming generosity from community

25 February, 2011 - 06:12

The generosity of the Christchurch community is shining through with continual gestures of goodwill towards the various agencies who are working on the search and rescue efforts.

Even those who were caught up in the epicentre of the quake are taking time out to give something back.

One of those people is Evan Coster and his family from Rangiora. Evan, 33, was working in Harvey Norman when the earthquake struck on Thursday.

He doesn't know if he has a job to go back to and with time on his hands wanted to do something useful.

"I rang the Police and asked them what I could do," said Evan. "They told me to stay home and spend time with my family but I was sitting twiddling my thumbs needing to do something."

Evan started visiting local businesses in Rangiora such as Warehouse, Countdown, New World and service stations and encouraged them to donate cups, coffee, sugar and milk. He then contacted his father John, who owns an ice cream van, and yesterday they drove round all of the cordons in the CBD making hot drinks for the Police and military personnel.

Evan's wife Amanda, 30, then put a message on her Facebook and sent texts to generate more support, which resulted in all of her friends going on a baking frenzy.

Evan and his father will be back out today in their ice cream van visiting every cordon twice to deliver drinks and baking.

The father of three children under the age of six said: "We have a home and these guys are out there helping people and not getting much out of it. It is the little things that count in the end."

Evan will be starting his deliveries around 9.30 this morning.

http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/27264.html

 

[Shiloh]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/a...for-lost-pets-after-quake-20110224-1b6kk.html

Fear that finds no voice: search for lost pets after quake
Stephanie Gardiner
February 24, 2011 - 3:57PM

Cats are hiding scared in safe places after the Christchurch earthquake, lost dogs are desperately seeking human affection, while their devastated owners take to the internet to find them.

That's the view of Kim Buchanan, the founder of petsonthenet.co.nz, New Zealand's national database for lost and found animals.

She said about 60 or 70 pets had been reported lost since the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck on Tuesday, but she expects many more pet owners to get in contact, as communications are re-established...

 

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Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

New Zealand quake toll hits 103

By Adrian Bathgate
CHRISTCHURCH | Thu Feb 24, 2011 7:20pm GMT

Excerpt:

"We haven't managed to find any more survivors, but our work continues. Brick by brick we are pulling buildings apart," police shift commander Russell Gibson said.
...
Rescuers were working under threat that a 26-storey hotel tower might collapse, possibly bringing down other buildings. Engineers were checking the building to see if an exclusion zone around it could be reduced allowing other buildings to be checked.

More than half of the dead have come from the ruin of the former Canterbury Television (CTV) building. An English school for foreign students had become a tomb, with more than 50 bodies pulled from the rubble and many more thought to be inside.

Full text:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/uk-newzealand-quake-idUKTRE71L04920110224

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Photo shows moment earthquake hit

A Twitter photo has emerged apparently showing the moment Christchurch's buildings collapsed into the shaking ground as Tuesday's earthquake struck.

The image, which appears to have been taken from high above Christchurch, shows a cloud of murky dust rising above the tallest buildings and covering the city centre....




http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8216244/aerial-photo-shows-christchurch-earthquake

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Scientific American has a good article about the geophysics of the latest NZ quake, which included the paragraph below about the impact of depth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Why Was New Zealand's Latest Earthquake So Deadly?

(snipped)

.....You mentioned that the aftershock was "shallow". What is the difference between an earthquake that takes place four kilometers below ground and one that takes place 10 kilometers below the surface, as the September earthquake did?

It's like how close you are to a bomb going off. If you're within a couple of kilometers, you're likely to get injured. If you're three or four times that distance, you not likely to. The waves are attenuating, or propagating, toward the surface. Christchurch was a very shallow earthquake, and that's a reason why the damage was much worse than the earlier one......

http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...christchurch&WT.mc_id=SA_CAT_ENGYSUS_20110224

.

 

[makoto]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Student recalls terror of quake / 19-year-old pleaded with rescue workers not to amputate her leg

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand--"The floor gave way and I started to fall. Then I saw the ceiling rushing toward me," recounted a Japanese student who was rescued from a building that collapsed in the powerful earthquake that struck Christchurch on Tuesday.

Norika Masutani, 19, from the Toyama College of Foreign Languages, was rescued from the building that housed King's Education language school.....

....Then, she saw a light and rescue workers approaching. They tried to help her, but she was not able to get her leg out. When the rescuers administered anesthesia to her thigh, she thought they were going to amputate her leg. She pleaded desperately with them, using the English she had come to New Zealand to learn, "Don't cut off."....

yomiuri online(Feb. 25, 2011)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110224006790.htm

 

[Tonka]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

http://www.informador.com.mx/mexico/2011/273468/6/sre-busca-a-10-connacionales-en-nueva-zelandia.htm
Spanish to English translation


SRE is looking for 10 nationals in New Zealand
SRE | Earthquakes | New Zealand | Oceania

Apparently there were 35 Mexicans in the area where the earthquake occurred. El Universal
The network was activated consular protection to determine needs countrymen who were at the scene of the disaster
The SRE reported that in the city of Christchurch, there were 35 Mexicans, of which 25 of them are out of danger

MEXICO CITY (24/FEB/2011) .- In the area which saw the 6.3 earthquake last Tuesday in the city of Christchurch in southern New Zealand, it is estimated that there were about 35 Mexicans, of 10 which so far have not been contacted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).

Dependence authorities indicated that before the earthquake that devastated this region and left more than 90 deaths, was activated consular protection network for identifying the needs of Mexican nationals who were in place at the time of the disaster.

Indicated that according to consular records, apparently there were 35 Mexicans in the area where the earthquake occurred, however, so far can only confirm that 25 of them are out of danger after being located by the Foreign Ministry staff .

Because it has not been able to contact the other 10 Mexican nationals who were presumed to be in the city of Christchurch, the authorities of the Foreign Ministry have issued instructions to staff of the institution to move to the affected area to its location.

They added that none of the Mexican contacted requested their evacuation.

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Names of two further victims released in Christchurch Earthquake

25 February, 2011 - 17:49

Police have today released the names of two further confirmed victims of Tuesday's Christchurch earthquake.

They are:
Jeff Pelesa SANFT, age 32 of Christchurch.
Andrew Christian Ross CRAIG, age 46, Christchurch.

Inspector Derek Erasmus, Christchurch city area commander, said no further names of those who have died or people who have been reported missing are able to be released at this stage.

The number of bodies in the city's temporary morgue remains at 113.

This afternoon 323 Australian police officers arrived in Christchurch. They were met by Police Commissioner Howard Broad and Superintendent Dave Cliff and sworn in with New Zealand Police constabulary powers to serve with New Zealand colleagues on the streets of Christchurch.

The officers have come from three states - South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales - as well as the Australian Federal Police.

Inspector Derek Erasmus, Christchurch City Area Commander, said police are hugely appreciative of the massive support received from colleagues and emergency service staff from all corners of the world.

"The Australians will start their duties tonight and, as a result of their presence, we are able to boost further the number of police patrols throughout the city."

This afternoon's family meeting which was held at a school in the city went for two hours. Disaster Victim Identification specialists and the Coroner were able to answer several questions about the processes being used to identify victims and the release of bodies to loved ones. About 600 people attended the meeting.

Eight people were arrested last night for breaching the cordon around the city centre. Two men who were arrested last night appeared in court today charged with the theft of two generators. They were remanded in custody to reappear on March 28.

http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/27276.html

 

[LaMenchos]

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

Re: 6.3 and 5.6 Earthquakes Hit ChristChurch New Zealand February 21 2011 - Heavy Damage - Deaths

In Search for Lost Friends of Another Kind - Lost or missing pets

http://www.petsonthenet.co.nz/ads/