New Zealand Earthquake of 2011

Tuesday February 22, 2011, an earthquake ruptured through Christchurch, New Zealand. With a 6.3 magnitude this earthquake caused several deaths and injuries as it crushed buildings and buses, buckled streets and damaged cathedrals. The quake struck just before 1 p.m. Tuesday (7 p.m. Monday ET). Two aftershocks occurred one having a 5.6 magnitude occurring about 15 minutes after the initial quake and a second 5.5 magnitude aftershock around 3 p.m. local time. The Christchurch hospital and airport were evacuated and closed due to the severe amount of potential damage that could be done at these areas. Also a large evacuation of the central city took place and it was reported that there were an undetermined final amount of deaths because of the amount of collapsing buildings that fell and crushed buses below them. So far there is a estimated amount of at least 65 people being killed. (CNN wire staff, 2011) 

A New Zealand newspaper reported that fires were breaking out, water mains were flooding the cities and phone lines were down as well. Roads were also cracked and the cities emergency service was unreachable. “It’s a nightmare,” said Kevin Fenaughty of GNS Science, an earth science research institute in New Zealand, talking about the aftershock of the original earthquake. “A lot of people were just getting back on their feet after the original quake.”(Harris, 2011). A witness of the earthquake named Gavin Blowman told CNN, there were now fears that a tsunami could hit from the seismic waves from the quake. Him and tons of others were trying to get to safe, higher ground to protect themselves from a possible tsunami.(CNN wire staff, 2011). People were also urged to avoid the water supply. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, said he would attend an emergency Cabinet meeting in Wellington and if the airport would open he would fly back to Christchurch. The mayor, Bob Parker, was also affected by this quake. He reported being thrown across the room in the city council building and knew that their were injuries within the building resulting from the quake. 


The United States sent a search-and-rescue team from Los Angeles county fire department to New Zealand on Tuesday after the earthquake. As said by Obama, "On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I extend our deepest condolences to the people of New Zealand and to the families and friends of the victims in Christchurch. We stand ready to provide more assistance as needed." On Tuesday 43 U.S government, business and community leaders were sent to Christchurch for a U.S.-New Zealand Partnership Forum meeting. This meeting brought together all the leaders of both countries to discuss ways to cooperate on trade and other issues. Another plan was to broaden the partnership of both the countries and the U.S would provide any assistance New Zealand required. (Mitchell, 2011) 

CNN wire staff, (Writer). (2011). Deadly quake strikes new zealand [Television series episode]. In (Executive producer), CNN. CNN News Network. 

(CNN wire staff, 2011) 

Harris, E.A. (2011, February 21). Strong earthquake shakes new zealand. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/world/asia/22zealand.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=new%20zealand%20earthquake&st=cse 

(Harris, 2011)

Mitchell, M. (2011). Us sends rescue team to help in nz earthquake. Columbus Telegram, Retrieved from http://columbustelegram.com/news/national/article_5af288c7-2a6c-552c-8150-a29ef90228bd.h 

(Mitchell, 2011)

Alaskan Earthquake of 1964

Occurring in the Prince William Sound region of Alaska, this earthquake became the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the word. Shaking on March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m., this earthquake had a magnitude of 9.2. The rupture last for approximately 4 minutes rupturing about 120 km east of Anchorage which sustained the most severe property loss and damage. (Christensen, 2002)The earthquake and the following tsunami took 128 lives and caused about $311 million in property loss and damage. Affected towns and cities include: Chitina, Glennallen, Homer and Hope. Many department stores and commercial buildings collapsed and suffered severe damage. Even some schools were affected by this quake. ( Stover, & Coffman, 1993).


Most of the damage and loss of lives were due to the effects of water waves. The waves were of two kinds: the tsunami, generated by large-scale motion of the sea floor; and the local wave, generated by underwater landslides in bays. The biggest wave height of the tsunami recorded was 67 meters at the Valdez Inlet. Not only did the shock of the tsunami devastate many surrounding towns but the landslides caused a significant amount of damage as well. The largest landslide had occurred at Turnagain Heights where buildings collapsed and the land was tilted in every which way. This slide destroyed around 75 houses with water main pipes, gas pipes, sewer, telephone, and electrical systems all shutting down in areas close enough to the slide. ( Stover, & Coffman, 1993).


The earthquake put into affect a 24 hour monitoring for each day of the year by staff at the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. The goal of the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center is to provide tsunami warnings for Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia in Canada. They also provide immediate earthquake information to the general public, media and National and International agencies so they can prepare their emergency management and rescue groups for the coming disasters. ( Sokolowski ).The aftershock zone of this earthquake was about 250 km wide and extended about 800 km from Prince William Sound to the southwestern end of Kodiak Island. Thousands of aftershocks were recorded in the months following the main shock. Smaller aftershocks continued for more than a year all over the west coast area. 

Christensen, D. (2002). Great alaskan earthquake of 1964. Informally published manuscript, Geophysical, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska. Retrieved from http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/quakes/Alaska_1964_earthquake.html

Stover, C.W, & Coffman, J.L. U.S Department of the Interior, U.S Geological Survey. (1993). Historic earthquakes Washington: U.S Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1964_03_28.php 

Sokolowski, T.J. U.S Department of Commerce , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). The great alaskan earthquake and tsunami of 1964 Retrieved from http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/64quake.htm 

Earthquakes from the beginning.

We all learned the basics of earthquakes when we were younger, but when an actual earthquake hits in our area do we really know what is happening? There are a wide variety of terms and facts that can help us understand earthquakes better. Earthquakes are known to strike at sudden moments and at anytime of the day or year. They can be violent, which often times leads to injuries of civilians in direct impact of the earthquake or in nearby cities and towns (U.S Department of, 2010). Out of all the states in America, Alaska is the most earthquake-prone, experiencing at least one earthquake almost every year. ( U.S Department of, 2009). Earthquakes are known all the world and effect humans in different ways every time. An earthquake that happens in central America may not have the same effects as an earthquake in Asia, they might not even have originated from the same incident but regardless of the damage they are still a serious matter. 

Earthquakes are quick to happen and occur when there is a shifting or breaking of rock beneath the earths surface. On the surface, to the human eye, the gradual sliding of the plates beneath the surface are unnoticeable, but when the rock begins to shift and build up tension is when the earthquake occurs. Seismic waves are produced and can be felt from hundreds of miles away from where the earthquake originated. As the seismic waves are felt a seismograph records the magnitude of the seismic waves and assigns a magnitude to the earthquake. An earthquake with a magnitude of eight or more is considered to have great impact on the surface, a magnitude of seven to eight is considered a major earthquake, five to seven is considered a moderate to strong earthquake, and a quake measuring three to five is considered minor. These measurements are called the Richter Scale, which was developed by Charles F. Richter in 1935. The scale measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake. Even the quakes that are minor can be read by seismographs. Every year, somewhere on our planet, around 10,000 people die just from earthquakes. Deaths are normally caused from collapsing buildings and homes. Other causes of causes of death result from mudslides, fires, floods and even tsunamis. ( "Earthquakes seismic destruction", 2011).

The first recorded earthquake was in 1769. It came from California about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles. California is known to experience the most damaging earthquakes. Also in California, specifically in San Francisco, there was an earthquake which caused a fire where the fire actually caused more damage than the earthquake itself. Even though it may seem like California has the most quakes, it actually turns out that Alaska is the state that experiences the most quakes in the United States. Outside the States there was an earthquake in Chile which actually shook the entire earth in 1960 for many days. This event became known as the free oscillation of the earth.(U.S Department of, 2009). Basically, earthquakes can affect any living organism all over the world and can cause great damage, even if you think you might be far enough away from the center of the quake. Education of earthquakes, construction of buildings that will not break under seismic waves, and emergency planning can help lower the amount of deaths that earthquakes cause every year. Whether it is a quake in California or China there are ways that we can reduce the amount of damage the quake can cause. 

U.S Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2010). Fast facts about earthquakes Washington, DC: Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/facts.shtm 

(U.S Department of, 2010) 

U.S Department of the Interior, U.S Geological Survey. (2009). Earthquake Facts EHP web team. Retrieved from

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/facts.php 

(U.S Department of, 2009)

Earthquakes seismic destruction. (2010). National Geographic, Retrieved from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/earthquake-profile/?source=A-to-Z

("Earthquakes seismic destruction", 2011)