Feb 22 - Christchurch Quakes Anniversary - 15 Years On

It's hard to believe that today marks 15 years since the Feb 22 Christchurch Quake in 2011, as 12:51pm!

Nothing quite put that number into focus as hearing that kids born that day are now teens in high school!  

In hindsight, there is truth in the words:  "This too shall pass..." 

 

For all those going through a hard time now: Kia Kaha. This too shall pass.

For all that we lost that horrible overcast day 15 years ago:  We will remember them. Always. 💔 

  

Blasts from the Past - Reminders and Remnants of Different Times

Sometimes you just cannot make these things up!  Either that, or "The Algorithms" pervading our lives these days are getting much better at juxtapositioning contrasting but related things together. Anyway, I digress.  Tonight's impromptu post is inspired by the following 2 snippets that popped up across my various feeds this evening:

   1)  Local newspaper had an article saying that a *third* building at my former High School had just been deemed "quake prone" - with all three buildings having been built either shortly before my time there, or during my time there, and all having been places I'd spent a bit of time in.

   2)  An old clip of Bill Gates giving a demo of Visual Basic back in 1991

 It's funny how these things go sometimes, isn't it...

 

Feb 22 - Violin Layering Tribute

Today marks 6 years since the devastating Feb22 quakes here in Christchurch. Here are a bunch of tracks I recorded to commemorate the event this year.

Regarding the recent quakes...

In case you haven't heard, there was a massive 7.5 earthquake north of Christchurch (near Hamner Springs) that struck last night just after midnight.

Unlike the previous ones we've had, this one went on for a very long time - for some 2-3 minutes by our rough estimation... much much longer than any previous quakes we've seen (and we've seen literally thousands in several years at this point). It was also relatively gentle (comparatively speaking): instead of any sharp jerking, shuddering, or horizontal shunting (i.e. the most destructive type of quake motion), we were instead treated to a "lost at sea in a heavy swell". The ground seemed convulse beneath our feet in wobbly waves of undulating motion. Combined with the gentle swaying of all the walls, light fittings, and other free-standing objects, the flickering lights (which threatened to blink out at any moment), and doors banging open and closed, it was quite a sickening feeling. I can only image how bad sufferers of motion sickness find travelling to be...

Pyne Gould Building Collapse Simulation Video - Blender Bullet Addon Demo

What strange times we live in: I just came across a video for a Blender addon for simulating building collapses using the built in Bullet (rigidbody simulation engine) tools.  What I didn't expect though was to open the video link, and be confronted with was this:

Woah... I know this place...

This is the Pyne Gould Building, that collapsed during the Feb 22 2011 Christchurch Earthquake. It was one of the two worst hit buildings that collapsed that day, killing and trapping people. The other one was the CTV building (also in the CBD), where over 100 people died (including the mum of a classmate from primary school) when it pancaked. In other words: not really something us Cantabrians want to remember/dwell on...

Leap Day and Quakes

Yay! Today is "leap day" - a day that only comes around once every four years, and which poses some unique challenges for kids born on that day :P  To celebrate, Google put up this awesome cute doodle on their homepage  :D

https://g.co/doodle/fsgbcs

5 Years On - An Eerie Day of Parallels

It's that time of year again - a day on which we Cantabrians reflect on a traumatic event which caused immense death, destruction, pain, and anxiety... the deadly February 22, 2011 earthquake at 12:51pm which forever changed the face of the city. This year marks 5 years since that event (a milestone of sorts). Somewhat morbidly, there were quite a few eerie similarities between that day and today...

Power out in Lab 2 just after 12:50!  (Feb 22, 2016... )

4th Anniversary of Christchurch Feb 22 Quake

Lo and behold, it's been four years since the devastating Feb 22 quake struck Christchurch, killing 185 people, flattening a large number of buildings (including the majority of those in the CBD), and terrorising the rest of us to no end. How time flies!



Here is a recording I made yesterday afternoon while having a bit of a thump around on the piano. (As usual, this is non-rehearsed, unplanned, and unedited - it is what it is). Listening to it again, I think it's quite fitting for today and the events that we are commemorating. Enjoy!

An Unwanted Anniversary - 4 years on

 Forget Me Not flowers in our garden - Photo from this afternoon

3 Years On - Christchurch Quake Anniversary

Today is the third anniversary of the deadly February quake in Christchurch that claimed the lives of 185 people in 2011. It's also quite a strange day, with the temperature shooting up over 30 degrees before lunchtime (having only gotten down to 19 deg C overnight - a very rare occurrence in Christchurch indeed).

Relics of the Past - The dome of the "deconstructed" Edmonds Rotunda (a restaurant) lies abandoned on the ground beside it's former home. Across the road stood the pancaked PGC building, which was the site of the 2nd deadliest collapse following the quakes.

Road cones are rather ubiquitous around town, with various road works projects on the go at any time. These ones were put out for traffic control for the memorial service held today. On one of these, there's a floral tribute - a tradition started 1-2 years ago...

Rebuild under way - Though progressing rather slowly, there are signs of the rebuild activity in various places (especially down Victoria St), with various new buildings starting to spring up. Here is the new "Stranges Building" being constructed on the corner of Lichfield and High Streets.

In the meantime, transitional projects, such as the quirky "Pallet Pavillion" pictured here have sprung up in empty lots which would otherwise be home to the plague of "Wilson's Carparks" popping up all over the place. This venue acts as a concert venue and bar/dining area, with other projects from the Gap Filler project located beside it.

Feb 22 - 2nd Anniversary

12:51pm - The second anniversary of the Feb 22 Christchurch Earthquake 2011.

(* a minute's silence *)

An unwanted anniversary that the earth thrust upon us, on a day much like today; slightly chilly, overcast, and right as the new university year had barely kicked off. Let us remember the 185 who died, the months of hardship and uncertainty which followed, and the forever face of the city I grew up in which no longer exists as it once did in many parts.

September 4th

I almost didn't realise it, but today is 2 years since that first quake rocked Canterbury early in the morning, forever changing our lives and the face of the city. And on the anniversary of such a momentous day, it seems that nature still had some plans for us...

The sunset this afternoon was quite spectacular, bathing everything in a strong pinky-yellowish glow. Eventually, I decided to grab the camera and poke my head out the door, upon which I was greeted by the following skies:

Recent spate of quakes...

It's been all over the news these past 24 hours, firstly Indonesia (8.7) and now Mexico (7.0). Yes, our long foe the "strong earthquake" has been rattling people again.

Just minutes ago, there was yet another small-ish tremor here in Christchurch (and apparently, there have been some small ones overnight too), to add to a sequence of small shakes we've started having again over the past month, after having relative silence for a few months.

Christchurch - One Year On

In a few minutes to the day, one year has passed since the devastating 6.3 February 22 earthquake struck Christchurch at 12:51pm, forever changing the face of this city.

Everyone has a story of where they were when the quake struck; what they were doing, who they were with, what happened. Through the media, we've heard countless stories of those who were trapped, injured, or died as a result of those moments of violent shaking.

Noo.... not another shake

Jeepers! We've just been hit by another sudden jolt this afternoon, a few minutes ago. It's been a good few months since the last significant event that I felt!

It went on for a half a minute or so, and was followed by a few smaller aftershocks in quick succession.

Thankfully everything is fine (though some things did get knocked over). More details later...

EDIT:
- there is the constant sound of sirens coming from the mall, and heavy traffic moving around.
- Geonet reports it was a 5.8 quake out at Lyttleton. Crap, this means we're going to have a few more sleepless nights for a while again.

EDIT 2: (3:28pm)
We've just had a second, even more destructive quake - it felt much worse than any of the others so far. Deja vu all over again (June 13th).

Was watching some cabinets just swaying violently, stuff clinking around, and the house jelloing for a while afterwards.

After over an hour, Geonet now reports this as a 6.0 @ 6km deep. Gah!

When the Santa parade comes to a street near you...

As a result of the quakes we've had here in Christchurch, this year the Santa Parade had to be moved from its usual route down Colombo St in the CBD to none other than the main road passing by a few blocks away from home.

Although the weather forecasts had predicted heavy rain for today, the sunny weather we've been having for the past week held until after the parade was over.

Cathedral Sq. Walkway

This weekend, the officials finally opened up a walkway for us to walk around the heart of the CBD - down Columbo St to Cathedral Square, and stand in front of the damaged cathedral (or as The Wizard called it, "auld stumpy")...

Of course, the usual disclaimers about "danger", "distress", and limited access (300 people at a time, for 1 hour max) applied, but that didn't stop the crowds of people who showed up for the blink of an eyelid.

Christchurch CBD - High St

With the progressive reopening (sometimes temporarily only) of the CBD, us Cantabs have a new passtime over the weekends: roaming, gawking, and "reclaiming" our battered city.

Last weekend, I headed off on foot to an area I haven't seen in months, which is hidden from view to passing traffic behind copious amounts of chicken-wire fencing placed in odd arrangements and the odd army sentry holed away in one of the wooden huts manning the checkpoints.

One year on...

Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the first quake which started it all, the 7.1 Darfield Quake at 4:35 am.

Six months on...

So, today, it has apparently been 6 months since the February 22 quake here in Christchurch which has changed so many things for good. How time flies...

In a vacant lot on Victoria St