Wairakei Rd near our Burnside rental: Grey liquefaction-mud / sewage mix caused brown, roadside ponding. Brick garden-wall fallen onto footpath near Ilam Rd corner. Cyclists & road traffic fled the CBD to suburbs.
Heaton St: Grey liquefaction-mud. Muddy driveways, grey water pouring onto road. Traffic-jam. Parents fetched kids from school.
Innes Rd: Grey liquefaction-mud. Ponding water poured into roadside, steel-grilled drains. Cracked road, muddy driveways.
Severn St: Completely liquefactioned. Quakemire everywhere: grey, liquefaction-mud-boils oozed acrossthe road from footpaths. Brick gate-posts fallen.
Westminster St: Huge grey, liquefaction-mud-boils oozed across the road. Grey liquefaction-water fountained out of road drains. Sewage & liquefaction-water ponded roadsides.
Madras St: Massive mud-boils. Sinkholes. Brown sewage ponded across the road. Fleeing Christchurch-CBD, pedestrians waded across mud & sewage.
Bealey Ave: Traffic-lights kaput. EQC man, wearing yellow, Hi-Vis vest directed traffic, Madras St / Bealey Ave . (Some EQC men were ex-cops). Pedestrians, including tourists with roller-suitcases, fled the CBD. A cop-car fled the CBD up Madras St. Bealey Ave was gridlocked. Grey, liquefaction-mud-boils & brown sewage puddles roadside. Packe St junction: water-main flooded. By a sinkhole, my car was jolted by a big aftershock. Terrified Asian faces in a car next to me. I abandoned my car at Bealey Ave / Whitmore St / Fitzgerald Ave junction. Beginnings of a cordon at the junction: Parked cop-car, cop, three Hi-Vis vested, CD men directed traffic & arranged the orange-plastic-road-cone-cordon, due to collapsed Fitzgerald Ave, northbound road by Avon River bank.
London St: Walked the grey, quakemired street to Leah's school. A car trapped in grey-mud. A brick-parapet ripped off a house side-wall. Fearful faces: Home-owners & families stood in liquefactioned-gardens & on quakemired-footpaths for safety. Brick-wall was peeled off Richmond Working Mens Club. Rubble lay next to a flooded, mud-stuck car.
London St, Jean Seabrook Memorial School: Grey liquefaction-flooded footpath, deep, grey, liquefaction-pond by front gate. I waded through. The empty plot next-door was completely flooded by grey liquefaction-water. Big, grey, mud-boils on footpath, in school carpark & in playground. Oozing, grey, mud-boils grew before our eyes. Staff in the liquefactioned-carpark waited for parents to fetch kids. Leah's car was becoming trapped in mud, so I reversed it off. Jake had already trekked quakemired-streets from damaged Under The Red Verandah restaurant, Worcester St, to Leah's school to tell her he was safe.
High-school teachers were on strike, so high-school students were loose in quaking Christchurch. Primary-school teachers dealt with distraught kids, parents & public during the quake & aftershocks. I trekked nearby streets:
Pavitt St: Grey quakemire, flooded. Gardens, grey quakemired, flooded. A drain steel-grill was displaced at a concrete-curb. Grey liquefaction-boils & grey flooding on the Village Green. Big road-crack near Richmond School. Playground, grey quakemired, flooded.
Alexandra St: Grey quakemire, flooded. Driveways, gardens, grey quakemired, flooded. Concrete-curb was snapped. House-chimneys were toppled. A concrete garden-wall was toppled. Cars were parked in sewage.
Fitzgerald Ave: Only the southbound lane operated, due to northbound lane collapse. A cyclist fled the CBD. Pedestrians fled the CBD on liquefaction-muddied & flooded footpaths. Two red buses NOT ON SERVICE were parked roadside. We didn't know then that eight people were killed by brick-buildings collapsing on a red bus in Colombo St.
22.02.11. Liquefaction damaged Wairakei Rd, nr Ilam Rd cnr. Cyclist fleeing CBD
22.02.11. Fallen brick wall on Wairakei Rd pavement, nr Ilam Rd cnr
22.02.11. Liquefactioned Heaton St, parents fetching kids from quake closed school
22.02.11. Liquefactioned Innes Rd
22.02.11. Liquefactioned Innes Rd / Severn St
22.02.11. Liquefactioned Severn St
22.02.11. Liquefactioned Severn St / Westminster St
22.02.11. Liquefactioned, flooded, sinkholed Madras St between Westminster St & Bealey Ave crossings. Motorists fleeing CBD, driving over liquefaction silt. Red car parked in raw sewage
22.02.11. Pedestrians fleeing CBD in raw sewage & liquefaction silt, Madras St.
22.02.11. Yellow, Hi-Vis vested, EQC man directing gridlocked traffic, Bealey Ave / Madras St. Traffic lights kaput. Some EQC assessors were ex cops
22.02.11. Gridlocked traffic, texting girl, quake damaged Bealey Ave / Madras St. Texting was the only reliable contact the first few hours post quake. Email & landlines were jammed.
22.02.22. Cop, tourists, business people fleeing quake trashed CBD, Bealey Ave / Madras St. Any vehicle traffic on quaked roads trashed unstable roads more
22.02.11. Gridlocked traffic while aftershocks jolted cars, Bealey Ave
22.02.11. People outside bldgs, safest place, while aftershocks continued, Bealey Ave
22.02.11. Liquefactioned Whitmore St / Bealey Ave / Fitzgerald Ave / London St crossing & beginnings of a orange, plastic, road cone cordon by Fitzgerald Ave. Pedestrians fleeing the CBD. In later national state of emergency days, cops & NZDF soldiers, incl an olive LAV, checkpointed the crossing
22.02.11. Liquefactioned Seabrook McKenzie Centre, London St. SMcKC would be liquefactioned in the June 13 quake too
22.02.11. Staff, parents, Seabrook McKenzie Centre, London St. Kindy & Primary school teachers in Christchurch were heroes, waiting for hours for kids to be picked up by parents. Shame on high school teachers that quake day, on pay strike, 1 000s of high school kids let loose in quaked Christchurch
22.02.11. Liquefactioned, flooded Pavitt St
22.02.11. Quake spalled, concrete curb, Alexandra St
22.02.11. Liquefactioned, flooded Alexandra St
Note: My unedited snaps were taken live, during the first four hours after the initial shock of the 22 February 2011 quake, during many powerful aftershocks, which jolted & shook my car, while I drove from Burnside to Richmond return, 20km.
22.02.11. Liquefactioned, flooded Alexandra St
London St: At Leah's school, I took live snaps while aftershocks jolted & shook us while we stood in the school carpark, waiting for parents to fetch their school kids, & while I trekked Richmond roads. Quakemire & grey-water "boiled," bubbled & oozed from the soil causing flooding, mud-volcanoes & mud-boils, all over Christchurch.
22.02.11. S bound, liquefactioned Fitzgerald Ave, already cordoned, nr Bealey Ave crossing. Bus was stopped, as collapsed N bound Fitzgerald Ave by Avon Loop was down the road
Buses stopped all over Christchurch during the quake. Luke had to abandon a bus on Moorhouse Ave while the quake continued. The CBD was too dangerous for jolting bus-travel. Skateboarding along Moorhouse Ave, Luke was one of the first to see collapsed towers of the RC Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Barbadoes St. During aftershocks, Luke was picked up by his girlfriend's dad on Moorhouse Ave. So Luke, didn't return home through the ruined CBD, during aftershocks. Quaked roads: a normal 20 minute trip from the CBD to South New Brighton took four hours! It would take another three days for Luke to to return home to Burnside, via staying at his girlfriend's ruined-home at South New Brighton.
22.02.11. Liquefactioned, flooded Fitzgerald Ave, nr Bealey Ave crossing. Cyclist fleeing CBD on wrong side of Fitzgerald Ave, as the opp side had collapsed by Avon River bend
Grey-water in my snaps wasn't rain after a storm, it was underground-water forced up above the ground surface during liquefaction, which continued for hours during aftershocks, where intense shaking compacted soil particles, forcing saturated ground-water above the soil surface with destructive force. Thousands of tons of underground silt was forced above ground during liquefaction, ruining infrastructure, roads & buildings. Diggers took months to remove quakemire from ruined roads & ruined properties. When windy, quakemire-dust in streets became a health-hazard. People wore masks against liquefaction-dust on nor'wester days. After rains, liquefaction-silt became mud in the streets again. I often used the word quakemire instead of liquefaction-mud.
22.02.11. Cop car & 3 Hi-Vis vested, Civil Defence blokes. Bealey Ave / Fitzgerald Ave while aftershocks continued. Beginnings of a state of emergency cordon where Fitzgerald Ave would be closed for weeks
Madras St / Cashel St, CTV multi-storey: While waiting at Leah's London St school we smelt burning in the air. Later that afternoon we learnt CTV had collapsed & burned, people were trapped inside. Couple of weeks later, TV reported that some human remains found at the CTV collapse may never be identified. Of the 115 persons killed by the CTV collapse, four were never identified in CTV rubble, the fire so intense, their DNA wasn't found. A memorial-garden at Avonhead Cemetery would be made for CTV unfound dead & missing.
I saw no new cordons that day, the quake was so devastating, authorities had no time to cordon ruins yet. People were being dug out of rubble & transported to hospital. Crushed corpses were found.
*Trekked Wairakei Rd, Heaton St, Innes Rd, Severn St, Westminster St, Madras St, Bealey Ave, London St, Whitmore St, Fitzgerald Ave, Pavitt St, Alexandra St. 134 snaps.
Facebook:
Like post 4 September 2010 quake, Facebook was the only medium I could message family & friends. Our outbox was down for months. Phone-lines were jammed or down post 22 February 2011 quake.
@Alan, Maureen. All OK. I think you guys know more about the quake than us here, due to power, phone & TV cuts. I drove to Leah's school an hour post-quake, after checking our house, tidying up mess. Roads I saw were cracked & bumpy, oozing water & liquefaction-mud.
While Jake was standing outside Under The Red Verandah restaurant the quake struck while he was having a coffee-break from cheffing. No deaths. Restaurant was shaken to hell. A brick, side-building collapsed next to Jake. He helped work mates-escape rubble. Some customers were injured by flying glass. 22 Feb 7:22pm.
@Averil. We're OK, others not. 65 confirmed dead, 200 trapped in collapsed buildings. [Death-toll would increase]. A friend was trapped in a seventh-floor lift. [She emigrated to Australia post-quakes]. Search & Rescue (USAR) teams are working flat-out. 22 Feb 7:26pm.
@Sheila. Esslemonts are OK. Power & phones were all down for hours this afternoon. We're the only suburb [Burnside] in the city with water. Leah says our computer's making a ghastly noise, so I'm doing FB comments before everything packs-up. Another aftershock while I type! Leah's been in phone-contact with her mom, brother & sister. 22 Feb 7:28pm.
@Crombie, Linda, Zwelethu: Esslemonts are OK. Running on adrenalin. Series of big quakes today 22 February 2011, from 12:51, aftershocks all afternoon & evening. Sons are with their girlfriends. Leah & I are having supper watching TV breaking-news till 11pm. Christchurch-CBD is devastated. National State-of-Emergency for five days, schools are closed. 22 Feb 7:35pm.
@Keylim, Quentin, David. Still shaking. Phones are jammed. Texting is recommended by Civil Defence (CD). 22 Feb 7:45pm.
@Mike. Numbed, we're becoming used to aftershocks, more than 4 500 since the 4 September 2010 quake. [Moot number]. Aftershocks are ongoing, one jiggling my computer while I type.
Difficult to get into Christchurch-CBD due to cop & military-cordons. Must wait a bit before seeing what happened.
Civil Defence & Earthquake Commission (EQC) personnel directed traffic at crossings, about an hour post-quake, much faster response than after the 4 September 2010 quake, after five months practice. I drove through gridlock-traffic, only one traffic-light working, on a trip which usually takes 20 mins, took me an hour, to Leah's school, over wrecked roads: cracked, buckled, flooded & oozing liquefaction-mud.
One aftershock jiggled my car near a Bealey Ave sinkhole, which had a burst water-main during the 4 September 2010 quake. Held my breath while my car bounced. I laughed at terrified Asian woman in the next-door car. Nowhere to go, we were all caught in gridlock, about 2pm, while parents around the city fetched kids from schools.
Today's 22 February 2011 quake, is more damaging than the 4 September 2010 quake, epicentre closer at Lyttelton, about 10km away from Christchurch. Lyttelton tunnel was closed. Lyttelton-CBD & Christchurch-CBD are badly damaged. 22 Feb 8.12pm.
@Mary Anne, John, Leslye. Esslemonts are OK. Others fared worse. We need kind thoughts and prayers now. 22 Feb 8.20pm.
@Tracey, Sue, Cassidy, Chris. Jittery! Now to raid our leftover Xmas cake. Brandy bottle half-full still. 22 Feb 8.58pm.
Coda:
I sent the following report to Durban, Daily News journalist, Mike Tarr [Northlands Boys High School mate]. My Shaken and Shocked report made Durban Daily News front page:
My family and I survived the 22 February 2011 quake & many aftershocks, a more destructive quake than the 4 September 2010 quake, as Lyttelton epicentre was closer to Christchurch and the intensity was greater. People died, people were trapped in collapsed-buildings, rescuers worked hard to save them.
12:51. Home-alone I thought, "Not again!" I stood by our front-door, ready to escape if our house collapsed. The house jolted and shook, enough to destroy me and my adopted city. I watched my neighbours' trees dance. Shaken and shocked I trembled.
"Stay calm!" I thought while I checked our house and cleaned-up. Our Burnside suburb got off lightly, the rest of Christchurch messed.
I texted my sons, both OK. Jakes' restaurant collapsed while he was outside drinking coffee.
I drove along broken, [liquefaction]-flooded roads to my wife's school, London St, to help. Cars weaved on gridlocked-roads.
I passed broken-houses, collapsed garden-walls, bricks flung about, broken-robots [traffic-lights], grey liquefaction-mud and water pouring from roads and gardens.
On Bealey Ave where a water-main had burst during an aftershock, my car bounced by a sinkhole. I feared it was my grave. An Asian woman in the next-door car looked scared. I laughed while bumping along.
School staff waited for parents to pick up kids. The school was surrounded by liquefaction: obscene grey, mud volcanoes, oozing grey-silt and water in the carpark and playground, cold water boiling from last night's rain.
My wife said her 6-9 year old pupils had dived under their desks, as trained. Some trembled, some wept, some froze - numb. Her car was stuck in liquefaction-silt.
I trekked stricken Richmond neighbourhood, while cops and Civil Defence directed traffic past road-cordons. A brick-wall had peeled off Richmond Working Mens Club, with rubble by a mud-stuck car. Mud oozed in parks and cracked-roads.
I trekked wasted-roads, numb people sitting in soggy-gardens, too scared to stay in their houses, aftershocks ongoing.
That night I felt overwhelmed, with jittery, nervous exhaustion, too vigilant to sleep. During aftershocks, I felt hysterical, spurts of anger, tearful, laughed like crazy, joked, till the next quake.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
No comments:
Post a Comment