2010 Canterbury earthquake

The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Christchurch earthquake or Darfield earthquake) was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, which struck the south Island  of New Zealand's at 4:35 am on 4 September 2010 local time (16:35 3 September UTC)

 The quake caused widespread damage and several power outages, particularly in the city of ChristChurch , New Zealand's second largest city. Two residents were seriously injured, one by a collapsing chimney and a second by flying glass. One person died of a heart attack suffered during the quake, although this could not be directly linked to the earthquak Mass fatalities were avoided partly due to New Zealand's strict building codes, although this was also aided by the quake occurring during the night when most people were asleep at home



The earthquake's epicentre was 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Christchurch, near the town of Darfield. The hypocentre was at a shallow depth of 10 km.A foreshock of roughly magnitude 5.8 hit five seconds before the main quake, and strong aftershocks have been reported, up to magnitude 5.4. The initial quake lasted about 40 seconds, and was felt widely across the South Island, and in the North Island as far north as New Plymouth. As the epicentre was on land away from the coast, no tsunami occurred.

Casualties, damage and other effects


Most of the damage was in the area surrounding the epicentre, including the city of  Christchurch, New Zealand's second-largest urban area with a population of 386,000. Minor damage was reported as far away as Dunedin and Nelson, both around 300–350 kilometres (190–220 mi) from the earthquake's epicentre.

Two Christchurch residents were seriously injured, one by a falling chimney and a second by flying glass, and many suffered less serious injuries. One person died of a heart attack suffered during the quake, but doctors could not determine whether this was caused by the earthquake.

Emergency response and relief efforts
Christchurch's emergency services managed the early stages of the emergency as the Civil Defence organisation was activated. The St John Ambulance service had sixteen ambulances operational within half an hour of the earthquake and received to almost 700 calls within the first 6 hours.Police promptly arrested a couple of opportunists who had broken into a liquor store shortly after the quake and attempted to take alcohol. Although some media outlets described this at the time as looting, Police emphasised it was an isolated incident. The alleged offenders subsequently appeared in Court on burglary and theft charges.