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The article barely mentions the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes - that did more to awaken people to the potential hazard. Most kiwis know about the Napier eart

by knz 10y ago

The article barely mentions the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes - that did more to awaken people to the potential hazard. Most kiwis know about the Napier earthquake in 1932 but it's a distant memory and until 2010 big earthquakes were always something that occurred in remote places like Dusky Sound or Inangahua.

mrmondo 10y ago
Yep worked in Christchurch hospital through both, hell of a thing, destroyed the entire city.
- knz 10y ago
  I left Christchurch 10 years ago for the US but still get back most years. The first few trips back after the earthquake(s) were very unsettling - destroyed doesn't fully describe just how different the city is now. It's great to finally see a new city emerging now.
  - mrmondo 10y ago
    I visit every 6-12 months, and to be honest, with all the heritage buildings gone, it's just another boring, white lower class city. Yes the port hills are still there and still amazing but it's not anything close to what it was.
- EdwardDiego 10y ago
  No it didn't. It destroyed large sections of the CBD, and the eastern suburbs, and that's it. Don't exaggerate please, my city is very much still here and present.
  - mrmondo 10y ago
    It's very, _very_ hard for me to hold back an emotional response right now. It destroyed practically everything, I worked in the CBD as I said, at the hospital, I know what buildings were brought down because I watched bodies from those buildings enter my building and many of them not leave, I then didn't flee Christchurch straight away, I stayed a year after the second quake to help where I could while I thought I was still valuable. The tilt slab concrete crap that remained was no part of Christchurch they were warehouses and storage facilities turned industrial or commercial sites. The buildings that were destroyed were Christchurch, did some of them rebuild - sure but not many of them and most never can because they wouldn't be up to code. I'm leaving this hear as to be quite honest I think you're only trying to get an emotional backlash that would make me look irrational.
    - vosper 10y ago
      I grew up in Christchurch and lived there until I was in my late 20s. I moved to London like many Kiwis do, but I was back when the Darfield earthquake hit. I moved to SF just before the February quake and came back to the city to visit a few weeks later, due to a death in the family (unrelated to the quake) and because I couldn't stand watching it all on TV and not being there. I've since returned to Christchurch most years to visit family and friends. I completely agree with your feelings out the change to the city. Before I left for London Christchurch was coming into its own, arts and music were blooming (I was involved with RDU), downtown was finally being revitalized - there were cool places in the old brick buildings on Poplar Lane, alternatives to the miserable Strip bars where adults could go out and have fun. I really felt the city had bright prospects as an alternative to Auckland that wasn't sleepy and centered around agriculture. New Zealand's second city. Then the earthquake came and ruined everything. Visiting the wreckage of the central city depressed me every time. Also, whenever I visit the interesting things that remain (there's no replacing the Dux in the old Arts Centre) are scattered now all over the city and require a lot of driving or an expensive taxi to get to. I just can't see myself moving back, at least not for 10-20 years, when we see how this rebuild plays out. It's Auckland or another country, now.
    - EdwardDiego 10y ago
      I dug people out of the rubble too, and I never left. You're defining a city by buildings. I define it by its people. Christchurch is a community and we're still here.

by knz 10y ago

mrmondo 10y ago

Yep worked in Christchurch hospital through both, hell of a thing, destroyed the entire city.

knz 10y ago
I left Christchurch 10 years ago for the US but still get back most years. The first few trips back after the earthquake(s) were very unsettling - destroyed doesn't fully describe just how different the city is now. It's great to finally see a new city emerging now.
- mrmondo 10y ago
  I visit every 6-12 months, and to be honest, with all the heritage buildings gone, it's just another boring, white lower class city. Yes the port hills are still there and still amazing but it's not anything close to what it was.
EdwardDiego 10y ago
No it didn't. It destroyed large sections of the CBD, and the eastern suburbs, and that's it. Don't exaggerate please, my city is very much still here and present.
- mrmondo 10y ago
  It's very, _very_ hard for me to hold back an emotional response right now. It destroyed practically everything, I worked in the CBD as I said, at the hospital, I know what buildings were brought down because I watched bodies from those buildings enter my building and many of them not leave, I then didn't flee Christchurch straight away, I stayed a year after the second quake to help where I could while I thought I was still valuable. The tilt slab concrete crap that remained was no part of Christchurch they were warehouses and storage facilities turned industrial or commercial sites. The buildings that were destroyed were Christchurch, did some of them rebuild - sure but not many of them and most never can because they wouldn't be up to code. I'm leaving this hear as to be quite honest I think you're only trying to get an emotional backlash that would make me look irrational.
  - vosper 10y ago
    I grew up in Christchurch and lived there until I was in my late 20s. I moved to London like many Kiwis do, but I was back when the Darfield earthquake hit. I moved to SF just before the February quake and came back to the city to visit a few weeks later, due to a death in the family (unrelated to the quake) and because I couldn't stand watching it all on TV and not being there. I've since returned to Christchurch most years to visit family and friends. I completely agree with your feelings out the change to the city. Before I left for London Christchurch was coming into its own, arts and music were blooming (I was involved with RDU), downtown was finally being revitalized - there were cool places in the old brick buildings on Poplar Lane, alternatives to the miserable Strip bars where adults could go out and have fun. I really felt the city had bright prospects as an alternative to Auckland that wasn't sleepy and centered around agriculture. New Zealand's second city. Then the earthquake came and ruined everything. Visiting the wreckage of the central city depressed me every time. Also, whenever I visit the interesting things that remain (there's no replacing the Dux in the old Arts Centre) are scattered now all over the city and require a lot of driving or an expensive taxi to get to. I just can't see myself moving back, at least not for 10-20 years, when we see how this rebuild plays out. It's Auckland or another country, now.
  - EdwardDiego 10y ago
    I dug people out of the rubble too, and I never left. You're defining a city by buildings. I define it by its people. Christchurch is a community and we're still here.