It’s now been 4 and a half days since the massive magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit my home city of Christchurch, New Zealand. My previous blog post had some photos taken the day of the quake.

Today I went out and took a few more pictures in my local vicinity. It feels a little weird to be actively looking for damage to photograph, but at the same time I feel utterly compelled to document what’s been happening around me.

Since the quake first hit, the City Council has had the central city cordoned off to the public as there is quite extensive damage in some areas. Supposedly tomorrow the cordon is being lifted – I have to say I’m apprehensive as to what we’re all going to see.

Today has (so far) been a relatively quiet day, aftershock-wise. According to GeoNet (now the most popular website in New Zealand), we’ve had 14 aftershocks so far today. In the first hours and days after the main quake we had some real window-rattling doozies, but today’s have been relatively minor; I’ve only felt three of them – although one woke me up just after 3am this morning, and it’s so hard to get back to sleep after you’ve been shaken awake by your bed swaying and your windows rattling

Ack, I spoke too soon – another seismic bump just hit the house as I’m uploading the photos for this blog post. Just a small one – I’d say that I’m almost getting used to them, but right now my nerves are so frayed from the constant aftershocks that I feel like this woman:

On to the photos – it’s so sad to see Christchurch’s lovely old heritage buildings trashed by the quake – there’s a groundswell happening on Facebook right now to try to preserve and protect as many of the heritage buildings as possible without blindly rushing into full-scale demolition. I certainly hope the city officials listen and that Christchurch’s character isn’t lost forever.

Extensive damaged to the much-loved Repertory Theatre – although they’ve now had it inspected and at least most of the damage is just to the front facade.

Walking around town, it’s like every third building has vomited a pile of bricks onto the sidewalk

The army has been called out to assist the police and civil defence staff, who are all doing an amazing job

Demolition of ruined buildings in the central city.
The beautiful red brick building with the yellow window arches in the background is a category 1 Heritage Building but it’s been condemned and is going to be demolished (leaving us with eyesores like the horrible white office block in front)

More of the central city cordoned off and undergoing inspection

“Christchurch: Let’s spring back!” chalked on the pavers in Cathedral Square

As a showing of support for locals affected by the quake, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra makes its upcoming concert free for residents

An art gallery in town has evacuated its premises, taking all the artwork and shop fittings. The only thing they poignantly left behind was this poster in the window.

All buildings in the central city have been assessed by inspectors and have been given either a green card (safe), a yellow card (unsafe, restricted use) or a red card (very unsafe, no entry under any circumstances)

About the Author

Photographer based in Christchurch, New Zealand specialising in promotional & editorial portraits, commercial & advertising photography.