Christchurch
On 22 February 2011, at 12:51pm, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the Canterbury region in the south island of New Zealand.
Christchurch was badly affected and many lives were lost. The epicentre was close to the populous city and the geography of the area made the damange worse. Liquefaction, mud rising from the earth, and many aftershocks caused even more damage.
Cathedral
The Christchurch Cathedral was badly damanaged in the earthquake, as well as by the aftershocks. It is in the centre of the city.
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The congregation currently meets in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral. It is a temporary church built from cardboard and other lightweight material, 500 metres east of the old cathedral.
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185 Empty Chairs
Immediately south of the Transitional Cathedral are 185 Empty Chairs–one for every person who died in the earthquake.
It was meant to be a temporary memorial, but it was is still there in October 2019–over eight years later.
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CTV Building
There chairs are surrounded by many empty lots. Before the earthquake, there used to be buildings there.
The former CTV Building is one of those empty lots. It is diagonally opposite the chairs and across the road from the Transitional Cathedral.
The Canterbury Televison Building was one of the buildings that collapsed during the earthquake. It was six stories high and 115 people died in the building.
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Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial
The Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial remembers the victims of the earthquake.
The memorial site includes a park on the north bank of the Avon River.
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On the south bank is a wall with the names of the 185 victims. Many names are in Japanese and other languages, since there was a language school was inside the CTV building.
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The inscription reads:
A violent and destructive earthquake shook greater Christchurch on 22 February 2011. The lives of 185 people were lost and many were seriously injured. This was one of thousands of earthquakes experienced in the region, starting on 4 September 2010. Our communities were forever changed.
We remember: those who died, those who were hurt, and those who expreienced loss. We offer our thanks: to those wo came for us, to those who risked their lives for ours, and to those who supported us. Together we are stronger.
Care for the people. Pita Te Hori, Upoko – Rūnanga, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, 1861.
The future
Many buildings were were no longer safe, and nearly a third of the buildings in the city centre had to be demolished. Less than 5 months earlier, there had been a larger earthquake that already weakened many buildings. The 2011 earthquake and the many hundreds of aftershocks continued the damage.
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But the city is rebuilding. While the process is slow, they are a visible sign of the optimism there is for the future.