Earthquakes

We Kansans have had very few brushes with earthquakes, and they all came in about a 6-week interval between Thanksgiving and mid-January of 2020-21. The pandemic has locked us down and we started having small earthquakes. They weren't very big, but they certainly were frequent. We got pretty jumpy after we were having one or two a day sometimes. So when we knew we were coming to Christchurch, we knew we would see the damage that was done with the earthquakes of 2011/12. Only two high-rise buildings still stand, and they were minimally impacted. But oh my, the Anglican cathedral? A mess. Many of the other buildings? Gone. What has been so impressive, however, is not the destruction but the reconstruction. Yes, there are many buildings still being torn down or reconstructed, but the rapidity with which the kiwis began to revive the town amazed me. Their buildings are now limited to five stories, because they have determined that is the tallest they can build and maintain a structurally sound building. They are using very innovative methods of allowing the walls to move with the earthquake, and their building materials have changed dramatically to lessen the weight of the buildings. The building pictured below is the new Arts Center/Cultural Center. It is a gorgeous building, and many of the other new ones are just as pretty.

The Quake museum has a number of displays showing not only the actual quake but also the methods they are employing to prevent such a cataclysmic event again. They will never stop the earthquakes, but if they can design buildings to better survive them, the better the outcome!