06 September 2010 10:45
Bulldozers clearing quake-ravaged Christchurch
Bulldozers moved into central Christchurch on Monday to start completing the work that nature began with the devastating earthquake that hit New Zealand's second-largest city at the weekend
editor@newzealandtimes.co.uk
The machines began pulling down buildings in the central business district so badly damaged by Saturday's magnitude-7.1 quake that they were condemned to make the area - which remains a no-go zone cordoned off by soldiers - safe for workers and pedestrians.
As aftershocks continued to rock the city, dislodging masonry and glass from buildings, the 50,000 commuters who normally work in the city centre were ordered to stay at home under conditions of a state of emergency that was extended until at least noon Wednesday.
Bulldozers were also at work in the suburbs, demolishing damaged blocks of shops as they began to collapse under the strain of nearly 100 substantial aftershocks recorded since Saturday's pre-dawn quake, the biggest to hit a New Zealand city in nearly 90 years.
Scientists, who have long monitored a geological fault running down the spine of the Southern Alps said the quake was centred on a fault they knew nothing about, and that had not ruptured for at least 16,000 years.
All schools in the Christchurch region were closed until at least Wednesday, and the city transport system was idle because of deep crevasses that had appeared in many roads.
It was not just a commercial disaster. After a cabinet briefing at parliament in Wellington, Prime Minister John Key said about 100,000 of the Christchurch area's 160,000 houses were damaged, many beyond repair.
With only about 250 people using emergency welfare centres, most of those forced to leave their homes were staying with friends or relatives, a situation Key said reflected "a real community spirit."
Power was restored to all but about 3,500 households by late Monday, and Key said the city's wrecked underground water and sewage system was the immediate biggest problem.
Christchurch Medical Officer of Health Ramon Pink said there were reports of outbreaks of gastroenteritis, presumably caused by water contaminated with waste, and repeated appeals to boil all water used for drinking, cooking or cleaning teeth.
Key, who said he was "awestruck" by the power of the quake after flying over the affected region, said it was miraculous that there had not been a heavy loss of life.
The only reported death remained a heart attack victim although two people seriously injured by falling debris were still in hospital.
The prime minister promised speedy central government funds to rebuild infrastructure in the city, which is the main gateway to the Southern Alps, lakes and glaciers that attract hundreds of thousands of tourists annually.
He said that reopening the central business district was a priority but rebuilding the city would be a long-term project.
"We are talking years to get on top of this," he said.
“Record births” after quake
A record number of babies were born in the aftermath of the powerful 7.0 earthquake that rocked New Zealand this weekend, hospital officials said on Monday.
A spokeswoman for Christchurch Women's hospital said 21 babies were born at its maternity ward in the 24 hours after the tremor, which damaged buildings and roads in New Zealand's worst quake disaster in decades.
"In the 24 hours post earthquake, 21 babies were born at Christchurch Women's hospital and that's a record for a Saturday," a hospital spokeswoman told AFP, without offering an explanation.
The first newborn arrived within 10 minutes of the quake, which saw roads gridlocked as residents rushed to higher ground to escape a potential tsunami.
Meanwhile Miriam Garcia was in labour at home when the quake struck and had just decided to head for the hospital.
"I couldn't believe the timing," the new mum, who delivered baby Amelia about two hours later, told
The Press newspaper.
"I had a lot of false labours in the weeks before and I was thinking, 'Now it's happening?'"
Danika Weeks was already in labour in the hospital when the earth rocked.
"The first thing I remember was seeing the re-sus (resuscitation) machines sort of coming towards us, like two horses racing towards us," she told TVNZ.
"I was sort of like, 'Gosh did we cause this? You know, is this part of it? Does the earth move?'"
Baby boy Lincoln arrived safely, and first-time mum Weeks said she suspected the shock of the quake was enough to jolt others into delivering their newborns.
"If you weren't in labour already it definitely would've brought it on for sure," she said.
Of the experience, she said the quake "made it all the more amazing, really, that we went through two sorts of trauma in the one day".
Sapa
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