‘Significant damage’ reported after New Zealand quake

[cosmictraveler]

Residents of two neighborhoods were being told to prepare to evacuate their homes early Saturday after a major earthquake that caused extensive damage in Christchurch, New Zealand, threatened to cause flooding, authorities said.

Two men were seriously injured and scores of other people suffered minor injuries in the aftermath of the quake, which registered 7.0 on the Richter scale at 4:35 a.m. (1:35 p.m. Friday ET), the U.S. Geological Survey said in Washington.

The timing of the quake probably saved many lives, Civil Defense authorities said, because most people were braced in their beds and not packing the older commercial buildings that suffered the brunt of the damage.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38993181/ns/world_news-asiapacific/?GT1=43001

 

[Brian Foley]

That is weird I have been to Christchurch twice in my working life, that city is flat, no fault line or recorded earthquake and this significant damage, very surprising.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

They have been fortunate in the Earthquake's timing.
It was bound to happen, and could not have occurred at a better time, thus refuting Murphy's Law at a stroke.

Nice to be on the same thread as you Brian.
We have not been on the same thread for some time.

 

[Bells]

I think the timing of the earthquake is the only reason why there are no fatalities to date. The city itself took an absolute beating if the images and video footage are anything to go by and the local flooding due to burst mains and sewage lines are feral, but frankly, it could have been much worse.

 

[superstring01]

Apparently New Zealand has some strict building codes that saved it from--what could have been--total disaster.

Building Standards Make Difference In Quake Deaths​

~String

 

[Bells]

Building codes in NZ are stringent, to say the least.

And earthquakes are not uncommon there, although those this big are not common either.

But I think it was the timing of this one that probably resulted in the small amount of injury and fatality. Weekend in Christchurch is usually busy as people go shopping, lunch, etc in town. Had this struck during a peak period of the day, then it would have been much worse.

But Kiwis are tough and they will rebuild and we can bet that the new buildings will be even more safe as they learn from this earthquake.