7.4 quake near Christchurch, NZ

[Dr Mordrid]

Link.....

Christchurch has been left devastated after a massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck 30km west of the city at 4.35am this morning.

The quake was at a depth of 33km and was centred near Darfield, and has left large parts of the area without power, water or telephones.

Several roads have been blocked by debris after the frontages of several buildings collapsed onto the streets, leaving their interiors visible and the central city resembling a war zone.

Large groups of onlookers have gathered to survey the damage and take pictures with their cameras and mobile phones, prompting wardens dressed in high-visibility gear to ask them to stay clear of the buildings in case aftershocks cause further collapses.

Traffic lights are still not working in several places around the central city, creating gridlock as the traffic flow increases.
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[paulw]

It's been wall to wall news down here all day. The biggest quake since about 1931 however surprisingly there was no loss of life most likely due to it being at 4.35am on a Saturday morning. 12 hours earlier it would be a different story. Christchurch has allot of of old buildings build early last century so that's where most of the damage has occurred.

[Dr Mordrid]

Have to admit I was shocked at the lack of casualties. Glad to hear that to the extreme.

[Evildead666]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010atbj.php

The USGS have it at 5km depth.

Must have been a real shocker.
Happy to hear everyone is OK.

piccy:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/2010atbj/us/index.html