Huge earthquake hits Christchurch New Zealand
Posted on 03. Sep, 2010 by Leon Kennedy in World
Christchurch, New Zealand, which is the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island, was rocked early on Saturday by a huge, 7.4 Richter scale earthquake; the quake apparently took down buildings, destroyed roads, and cut off people’s connections to power, water, and sewage.
Seismologists are saying that this earthquake is the largest to hit a population center in New Zealand in the past 100 years; an even more notable fact considering that New Zealand is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries. The quake was centered about 19 miles west of the city, and one of the reasons why it caused so much damage was because it was centered 6 miles underground (relatively shallow for most quakes).
Despite the large-scale damage to buildings and roads, only two serious injuries have been reported; officials speculate that so few people were hurt because the quake struck in the middle of the night when most people were in bed.
Christchurch police have closed the city’s business district in case of further building collapses caused by aftershocks; furthermore, police have also had to respond to reports of looting in the city’s wrecked businesses or shops.
Perhaps to add insult to injury, the nearby Avon River also overflowed, causing flooding in some of the city’s suburbs.
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