In the wake of a quake
On a trip last fall to New Zealand, I visited Christchurch, the largest city of that nation’s South Island. With a population of about 382,000, it’s about the size of Fayetteville and is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country.
The area is highly seismic.
Christchurch suffered some damage during the September and December 2010 earthquakes. But it was the February 2011 earthquake that devastated the city center, killing 185 people and injuring 6,600. Roads and bridges collapsed. Cars were crushed. People on the street were buried by falling debris.
The Anglican cathedral collapsed and the Catholic cathedral suffered great structural damage. Several smaller earthquakes later that year and in 2012 made reconstruction more difficult. About a third of the buildings in the central business district were demolished.
Yet few people left the city. Residents rolled up their sleeves and went to work repairing the damage using available materials. Christchurch is a manufacturing center on the seacoast, and the port that connects the inland agricultural industry with the world. As a result, reconstruction was jump-started using shipping containers and wood in creative ways.
We saw signs of the big earthquake’s damage, but the city is being rebuilt.
And the amazing do-it-yourself reconstruction projects are serving their purposes – and inspiring tourists.
Grazia Walker, of Charlotte, is a retired instructor of marine biology.
This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 1:00 AM with the headline "In the wake of a quake."