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Scoop Coverage: Christchurch Earthquake Response

Monday, 6 September 2010, 12:55 pm
Article: Scoop Full Coverage

30/09/10: Law Society On Canterbury Earthquake Act

"We are not going to criticise the legislation from the sidelines. While we strongly point to what we see as problems in the way the legislation is drafted, we have some suggestions on how Parliament can resolve these."

Mr Temm said the Law Society believed that the powers delegated to Ministers by section 6 of the Act were potentially at odds with maintenance of the principles of the rule of law. More>>

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Open Letter: Legal Scholars' Deep Concern On Canterbury Quake Legislation

A group of 27 legal scholars from New Zealand and overseas has written an open letter outlining their deep concerns over the constitutional implications of the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010. More>>

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Tales Of Canterbury: The Commissioner's Tale

canterbury tale, brownleeThe Scoop Team were cleaning out our offices earlier today and what should we find at the bottom of the filing cabinet but an illuminated manuscript from the thirteenth century?

…

Yet still there was discord in Heav’n
For Hell itself didst spew objection
Before the dawn one Sabbath morn
with dirtye bigge cracks o’er my lawn;
‘A portent!’ cried I, for signs were legionne,
‘We must a Prince to rule our regionne!’

A stoppe-gappe measure for riven pasture,
A Fissure-King for this Disaster.

More>>

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Gerry Brownlee, Henry VII24/09/10: Recovery - Brownlee Appoints Privy Councillors

Earthquake recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today announced members of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Commission. More>>

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17/09/10: First Canterbury Earthquake Orders Made

Index of Canterbury quake legislation

Lyndon Hood's Scoop Satire:
The Christchurch Dialogues

Brownlee: So with y'know the RMA and so on we were a bit worried we wouldn't be able to get on with the job of rebuilding. I mean, it wasn't designed for this situation, was it? It'd be ages just getting basic consents.

So we all got together and decided the best thing, the best thing to do, for the recovery of Canterbury, was to pass a law that let me - well, the Executive Council but, y'know, me - to let me just rewrite any law I wanted to. More>>

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Scoop Business: Christchurch Quake Leaves NZ Worse Off, RBNZ Says

Looks like you need to get the blurb yourself. Probably best to do that irrespective, actually. More>>

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pause, elevator, interest rate, reserve bankScoop Business: Bollard Holds OCR At 3% On Tepid Recovery, Quake

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard held the official cash rate at 3%, as expected, and said the track for future rate hikes will be “more moderate” than previous forecasts as the Christchurch earthquake disrupts an already slowing recovery. More>>

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16/09/10: State Of Emergency Lifted

At noon on Thursday, 16 September 2010, the Selwyn District Mayor, Kelvin Coe removed the Civil Defence emergency status that had been in place across the Selwyn District since the devastating earthquake of 4 September.

The decision to lift the emergency status has been made in consultation with the Mayors of Christchurch City and Waimakariri District, and central government. The state of emergency has been lifted concurrently across all three regions affected by the earthquake. More>>

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Gordon Campbell:On The Draconian Christchurch Earthquake Legislation

gerry brownlee, holbein, henry viii, christchurch earthquakeCome back Frank Bainimarama, all is forgiven... Via the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act, all parties in Parliament have voted to put Canterbury – and the rest of the country – under the dictatorial rule of Gerry Brownlee, the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, from now until 1 April 2012.

Brownlee’s ‘recommendations’ as section 6 (3) of the Act calls them, “may not be challenged, reviewed, quashed, or called into question in any court.” The only things Brownlee cannot over-ride at the flick of his hand are habeas corpus, the New Zealand Bill of Rights, our right to vote, and the 1688 Bill of Rights. The Human Rights Act has been left off that shortlist. More>>

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Wellington.Scoop: A Tale Of Two Cities: The Cost Of (Not) Strengthening Earthquake-Prone Buildings

Christchurch now has a stronger sense of urgency about earthquakes than Wellington... Mayor Prendergast’s council may well be embarrassed because it relaxed Wellington’s rules last year, responding to pressure from property owners by giving them up to 20 years before they have to strengthen their old buildings. More>>

PM's Presser Audio: Quick-Fix Quake Bill "Won't Hurt Standards"

Canterbury’s quake survivors can rebuild now and worry about resource consents later under new special legislation - but Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says it will "absolutely not" affect the quality of repairs being done. More>>

Bulldozing: Urgent Legislation To Help Canterbury Recovery

The government will introduce legislation tomorrow to facilitate recovery work in Canterbury, says Gerry Brownlee, the Minister responsible for coordinating the Government's recovery response to the Canterbury earthquake...

“The building, local government and resource management acts are not designed for the special circumstances Canterbury faces. We don’t want recovery work being slowed or stopped by filling out paper work. That is why the government is introducing the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill, to allow a seamless transition from the state of emergency. More>>

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Treasury Brief: Economic Impact Of Canterbury Earthquake

• Economic impact and damage estimates are highly uncertain at this early stage • Overall GDP impact will be smaller than final damage bill • Earthquake to have a negative impact on GDP in the September quarter of around 0.4% • Recovery and repair work over the following three quarters likely to more than offset this, boosting GDP in the year to June 2011 as a whole More>>

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Scoop Business: Bollard May Take Pause From Rate Hikes This Week

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard will take a pause from raising interest rates this week to assess the pace of the global economy, the flow-on effects from Canterbury’s earthquake and the failure of South Canterbury Finance. More>>

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And/Orderton: Anderton Will Leave Parliament If Elected Mayor, Actually

It is perfectly reasonable for people to now question whether the earthquake has altered the balance of the challenge facing the city and my ability to manage the positions of both Mayor and MP, even if only for a short time – and the answer is that it clearly does. More>>

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Slip Near Kaikoura Closes SH1 Christchurch Earthquake12/09/10: Slip Near Kaikoura Closes SH1 Until Next Week

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) says it will be Monday morning before it is in position to say when State Highway 1about 15km south of Kaikoura will re-open, following a major slip Friday night. More>>

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11/09/10:

10/09/10: Christchurch Earthquake - General Update

CBD Cordon The CBD cordon remains in place this morning. Police, engineers and Civil Defence staff are assessing the area. The Cordon will be lifted progressively and updates will be available during the day. More>>

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Yet More Science: Textbook Aftershock Sequence, Seismologist Says

The number and size of aftershocks in Canterbury is in line with expectations for a main shock of magnitude 7.1, a seismologist said today. More>>

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9/9/10: Shifting From Response To Recovery

christchurch earthquake rebuildingCivil Defence Director, John Hamilton says public services are being restored in Canterbury, with people in the region receiving support from welfare staff and building inspectors despite disruption caused by strong and frequent aftershocks.

Mr Hamilton said the focus is shifting from the response phase to recovery.

“Priorities over the next few days are to provide assistance to people and target and fix infrastructure, meet immediate and longer term housing needs, establish recovery structures and ensure timely, regular communication with affected communities,” he said. More>>

8 & 9 Sept:

Bermuda Triangle: Discredited Earthquake Safety Advice Circulated

The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and GNS Science have spoken out against the email, sometimes known as the “triangle of life”. They have done so because the email discourages people from taking what is usually the safest option, covering under desks, in doorways, etc. More>>

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8/9/10: Lyttelton: New Images Of Earthquake Damage

red sticker christchurch earthquake

8/9/10: Big Aftershock Jolts City

Mayor Bob Parker has called for calm following this morning's major aftershock. People are asked to avoid travelling and to stay at home with family if it is safe to do so. More>>

Earthquake Report: Christchurch Mag 5.1, 7:49 8/9/10

Image: Bernard Darnton.

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keep calm and carry onGordon Campbell: On The ‘Quake Aftermath (& Sean Plunket's Exit)

The news that Police have reported a 53% leap in domestic violence incidents in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake stands in stark contrast to the media narratives of community resilience and stoicism that have dominated media coverage... This aspect of the quake is worth noting, because to date – and understandably – a lot of the assessment has focussed on the purely economic impact. More>>

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Smellie Sniffs The Breeze: Shaky Times

Let’s get one thing straight. Earthquakes are not good for the economy... try painting the destruction as good news for someone whose house is threatened with collapse on the next big after-shock. More>>

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Heritage: NZ Express Co Building A Write-Off

It is likely to be necessary to demolish two inner city buildings later today:
Former New Zealand Express Co. Building / MLC Building,160 Manchester Street; Cecil House / Country Theme, 68-76 Manchester Street. More>>

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frock up for an eventful weekend in christchurchWellington.Scoop: Monday Diary – Timing Is Everything

Pedestrians in Taranaki Street were today bemused to see this new billboard – four storeys high – which has just been erected on the Cogent building. More>>

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Stateside With Rosalea: Some Cultural Geography

On February 28, 2001, an earthquake struck just 18 km from Washington State’s capital, Olympia... Just as in the earthquake that struck Christchurch, NZ, last weekend, the damage included collapsed awnings and brick walls. More>>

6/9/10: Aftershocks "Are Literally Real Crackers"

Some of the aftershocks still rocking Canterbury are literally real crackers says Mayor Bob Parker.

His comment was a reference to a large aftershock which rolled through at about noon today further stressing an already badly damaged building in Cranford Street, which began to crumble after the jolt. The Fire Service has confirmed Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) has arranged for the building to be demolished.

The Christchurch City Council's engineers have now surveyed all 550 buildings in the central business district. City Rescue Manager Steve McCarthy said five percent of those buildings have been red stickered meaning they are deemed unsafe and unable to be entered More>>

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More Science: Fault Had Not Ruptured For At Least 16,000 Years

The fault that ruptured and produced the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Canterbury on Saturday appears not to have ruptured for at least 16,000 years, scientists said today.

The earthquake produced a 22km-long surface rupture and up to 4m of horizontal displacement in alluvial terraces that were deposited about 16,000 years ago at the end of the last glaciation. More>>

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Audio & Report 6/9/10: Govt Promises $5M In Quake Relief

The Government has promised $5m for a hardship fund to help victims of the weekend’s massive earthquake in Christchurch and the Canterbury region.

After a lengthy meeting with Cabinet members Monday, Prime Minister John Key told reporters the government would pay the money into Christchurch’s mayoral relief fund, which already has $6m worth of contributions from the private sector, including several major banks.

But today’s earmark was just “a starting point”. More>>

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6/9/10: Rivers Rising In Canterbury

Upwards of 200mm of heavy north-west rain has fallen along the Alpine Divide as was predicted yesterday. More>>

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#eqnz University of Canterbury – Christchurch earthquake
Image: University of Canterbury

Picking Up The Pieces: Psychological Recovery Takes Time

It will take longer to recover psychologically than materially from the Christchurch earthquake, says a disaster specialist who has worked with earthquake survivors in China. “It is easier to pick up the pieces physically and financially than it is ... More>>

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Images & Report: Christchurch’s Shaky Weekend

#eqnz Christchurch earthquakeTalia Shadwell reports first hand accounts of the aftermath of this wknd's quake The earthquake that rocked Canterbury early Saturday morning had Riccarton students Scarlett Moody, Lilly Pomeroy, Samantha Keepa and Taygen Hughes shrinking in the doorways of their Balgay St flat.

Their power cut out, the girls conjured up some candles amid rolling aftershocks.

“At first I thought it was a heavy truck driving past, but then the floor started to shake and there was this unbelievable rumbling sound. I had to clamber to get a hold on a door frame. Images: Emily Hartley-Skudder More>>

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Scoop Business: Quake Throws Lifeline To Building Industry

The 7.1 magnitude pre-dawn earthquake that shattered Christchurch may be the most significant economic disaster in recent history, but it will provide a much-needed lifeline for New Zealand’s beleaguered construction sector. More>>

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"Dark Day": Statement From Governor-General Regarding 4 Sept

All New Zealanders will share the shock and dismay that Susan and I feel for what has happened in the South Island today. The loss of life in the Fox Glacier air crash and the widespread damage in this morning’s earthquake, have caused a dark day. More>>

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#eqnz Christchurch earthquake
Scoop Feedback: Pictures of the Christchurch Quake

Canterbury Picks Up Pieces After Massive Quake

Report By Jackie Llewellyn A massive earthquake which shattered Canterbury in the early hours of this morning has left many amazed that no one has yet been found dead.

The 7.1 magnitude quake struck at 4.35 am reducing buildings in central Christchurch to rubble, but there have so far been just a few reports of serious injury.

The earthquake ripped through Christchurch and Canterbury's infrastructure cutting power, creating gas leaks and rupturing water and sewerage systems. More>>

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Civil Defence: Large Earthquake Near Christchurch

#eqnz Christchurch earthquake


7.10am Following today's 7.4 magnitude earthquake, Canterbury Emergency Co-ordination Centre, Selwyn, Timaru, Waimakariri and Hurunui districts have activated their emergency centres.

There are power outages across the districts. Residents are strongly advised to avoid all non-essential travel while damage to buildings and infrastructure is assessed and necessary repairs are made.

Residents are also advised not to use cellular phones unless for emergencies. More>>

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