Christchurch Rapid Response ~ The finale

The team have now finished with all sensors are now in place; 6 weak-motion - as far away as Duvauchelle (at the head of Akaroa Harbour) and 4 strong-motion around the Port Hills.

Both teams are now on their way back up to Wellington. Before leaving the city, they stopped off at a welfare centre to donate all of their uneaten food.

 A very weary team, all packed up and ready for the long trip home! (L-R Caroline, Charlie, Sam, Lara)

Finished site at Otuki Valley.

Christchurch Response ~ Day 3

The team have two weak-motion sites to install today and then they can begin the long journey home. They are all looking forward to their own comfy beds, though I'm sure they will miss being woken up by the camper van shaking around in the aftershocks during the night!

Cool pic of the day:  This is an earthquake just as the team were checking the system on the seismograph they were installing east of Tai Tapu.

Christchurch Response ~ Day 2 ~ Pt 2

The team had another long day in the field, four strong motion and four weak-motion sites are now installed. Tomorrow they are off to Akaroa.

I asked Lara what her thoughts were as they were driving around Christchurch, (as we had both travelled around the city in November to distribute the 'GeoNet News Special Edition'  and love ChCh) she said: "it still feels unbelievable to see an area you know looking so broken. Everywhere you see roads are cracked and you see signs for water. Like a war zone. but locals are amazingly resilient and positive and still happy to help"

 Lara (with lots of gear) about to go for a hike to find a site east of Diamond Harbour. After all that lugging they get to dig!

A large part of Charteris Road has collapsed, this is on the way to Diamond Harbour.

Lara, armed and dangerous with a compass, making sure the seismograph is aligned correctly. 

Caroline putting the finishing touches on the forth weak motion site, east of Tai tapu. The electric fence is too keep nosy animals from checking out the equipment!

Christchurch Response ~ Day 2

Some of the team all snuggled up in their 'home sweet home' testing instruments and planning their sites for the day. Summit Road is closed so they have to relocate one of the sites they had planned.


Below is a one of our strong motion instruments (basically a lot of technical guff all housed in a grey 'suitcase' ) and below right is the temporary home, in a garage, which a kind member of the public has allowed us to use.

They have also sent through some of the now familiar sites of Christchurch, below...

Christchurch Response ~ Day 1 (+ Updates)

With Team 2 travelling down from Kaikoura today, Team 1 (camper) set off this morning and have installed the first temporary site, north of the city
(you can see the site locations here: http://www.geonet.org.nz/var/storage/images/media/images/news/2011/deployment_feb/57163-1-eng-GB/deployment_feb.jpg  yellow pins are short period (like in the photo left) and red pins are strong motion instruments.)

 Pics to the left show Lara at the first site install of the day, and Sam in charge of the camper cooking!

PM ~ Update


Both teams have now split into two and have  been hard at work all day. So far they have installed two sites each, progress has been slow due to traffic detours and hard digging.  One hole the team had to dig took over an hour!





One of the many unbelievable sights the team have passed whilst travelling around Christchurch, this picture shows some houses sitting precariously on the cliffs at Sumner.

 

Caroline(left) and Lara (below) from today's 'girl power' team, installing a short-period sensor on the hills above Sumner.

Christchurch Response ~ Team 1 Arrive

 After some interesting sights on the trip from Picton, the 'camper team' have finally arrived in Christchurch.
Below are a slip just south of Seddon and a petrol station in Kaikoura.

This is the first quake damage they came across, Burwood Rd in Christchurch.  The team will camp up tonight and begin deployment first thing tomorrow.

Christchurch Earthquake Response

Following the devastating earthquake on Tuesday February 22nd, a team of four GeoNet technicians and scientists are on their way down to Christchurch to deploy instruments to better capture the aftershock sequence, and get a better understanding of the local fault structure. I will follow their progress and update you with photos.

Due to limited accommodation in Christchurch our team have traveling and are staying in a camper van.

UPDATE 16:00 Team one (camper) have just driven through Seddon, and Team 2 are currently on the ferry, though a late boarding means they will be spending the night in Kaikoura
before heading down to Christchurch and meeting up with the camper team.
Below - the very full GNS ute of Team 2, waiting to load onto the ferry