Christchurch: One week after the quake

The latest number as of Wednesday morning local time count 159 dead from the quake (The Sydney Herald). Police expect the death toll to reach about 240 once all the bodies have been recovered from collapsed buildings and identified. This article states that a rescue team has made it to the 10th floor of the Grand Chancellor but found no one.

Hotel Grand Chancellor

While the final outcome is not known, the going opinion is that the building will have to be demolished. The NZ Herald is reporting that rescuers on Tuesday got in the building but were unable to go higher than the fifth floor because the stairwell was damaged. The ground under the south-east corner of the hotel sank in the quake and the entire 26 stories are now leaning 2 degrees. Engineers have succeeded in shoring up the south-east corner but other parts of the structure need to be reinforced before rescue teams attempt to go in as there is the fear the hotel may collapse.

If the hotel is demolished, the experts are saying this will come with its own set of problems. The building has already been weakened and the problem will be to have it come down and damage any adjacent buildings.

Before and After

The Washington Post has an interesting series of pictures of various buildings in Christchurch showing them before and after the earthquake. The difference is startling if not shocking. While the Christchurch cathedral lies in ruin, its spiral toppled off the tower, the CTV building was just flattened. The church was thought to have around 20 people in the spire either climbing up or coming down as it offered a spectacular view for tourists of the downtown core of the city. The CTV building is thought to have had over 120 people in the building when it collapsed.

No more high rises?

The NZ Herald has an article talking about a change in policy for building in the city. It could mean that limits may be imposed on the height of buildings with a strategy for construction that is more resistant to quake forces. As well, new standards could see efforts made to strengthen older buildings.

Two Minutes of Silence

The city respectfully observed two minutes of silence on Tuesday at 2:51pm, exactly one week after the 6.3 magnitude quake shook the city to its core. Christchurch still a long way to go to recover from this disaster.

Euronews – Mar 1/2011

New Zealand falls silent to remember quake dead

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