Canterbury Earthquake Archaeology

The Earthquakes

The Richter scale 7.1 quake (The Darfield Earthquake) which struck on September 4, 2010 caused widespread damage and two serious injuries.

The Richter scale 6.3 quake which hit at 12:51pm on February 22, 2011 caused severe damage and resulted in the loss of 185 lives. There have been many other aftershocks but little damage is associated with those.

The discrepancy between the Richter scale measure and the damage and casualties relates to where the epicentres were. The Sept 4 quake was centred 40 km from Christchurch while the February 22 aftershock was within the urban boundary. Consequently the MM scale felt intensities in central Christchurch were: September 4: about VI, February 22: MM VIII. Both earthquakes caused widespread liquefaction which damaged buildings and infrastructure, both in Christchurch and in some smaller outlying communities.

Both caused damage to buildings. The February 22nd quake particularly damaged or collapsed many older masonry buildings, damaged many new buildings – some beyond repair and collapsed a few relatively new buildings. It also caused severe rockfalls on Banks Peninsula which in turn caused damage and casualties.

Many heritage buildings were affected. Some were destroyed. Demolition orders have been issued for many that were dangerous or beyond reasonable repair.

Archaeological Response

The reconstruction which has commenced has proved to be a bonanza for archaeology – mainly looking at the more recent historic heritage but a few sites have proved to have Maori archaeological heritage.

A major archive of reports is University of Canterbury CEISMIC – search for archaeology or archaeological. http://www.ceismic.org.nz/

NZHPT page on its role: http://www.historic.org.nz/protectingourheritage/faqs-earthquake.aspx?sc_lang=en

Christchurch City Council heritage page http://www.ccc.govt.nz/cityleisure/artsculture/christchurchheritage/index.aspx

CERA, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, heritage buildings and places page http://cera.govt.nz/recovery-strategy/cultural/heritage-buildings-and-cultural-heritage-places-recovery-programme

A blog about Christchurch Archaeology: Christchurch Uncovered http://blog.underoverarch.co.nz/

The work has received some international attention¨http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pictures/130221-christchurch-new-zealand-2011-earthquake-demolition-science-archaeology-artifacts-pictures/