Day 04: Degenkolb New Zealand EQ Recon Team Wednesday 03/09/2011
Saturday we drove southeast to the town of Lyttelton toward the epicenter of the February 21st 6.3 Mw quake. Along the way we stopped at the house of Charrette Boogaerts Boyce, a cousin of one of Cale's clients. We also met her five year old son Enzo and kept us entertained throughout the day with his high energy and engaging personality.
Charrette is currently staying with friends but ...
Posted by Degenkolb New Zealand EQ Recon Team on March 12, 2011 4:33 PM
Thursday was our first full day in Christchurch and Loring had arranged for the team to sign in at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The City Council building had experienced minor damage so the EOC was relocated across the street to inside of the art museum. The operations inside appeared to be well organized with signs taped to walls indicating where each functional group was located. We were quickly able to find the correct station to sign in for building ...
Posted by Cale Ash on March 12, 2011 12:01 AM
New Zealand Earthquake Day 2: Moving Forward By Degenkolb Reconnaissance Team
As we walked through the city we started seeing damage in some more modern structures. For the most part, modern construction appears to have been performed adequately; however, it is here that one realizes the magnitude of the disaster. There are entire blocks cordoned off because of collapse hazard from tall structures such as the Grand Chancellor Hotel. There is at least one high rise building where ...
Posted by Degenkolb New Zealand EQ Recon Team on March 11, 2011 11:39 PM
New Zealand Earthquake Day 2: Observations from the Central Business District By Degenkolb Reconnaissance Team
Today we had breakfast at 7:30am at the hotel. Ready to begin our reconnaissance for the day, we decided to take our vehicles and drive to the Central Business District (CBD). We obtained Christchurch City Council “Authorization to Enter Cordon” passes yesterday, which made us confident we would make it past the barricades. No words can describe what we were about to observe…
Walking in ...
Posted by Degenkolb New Zealand EQ Recon Team on March 11, 2011 11:18 PM
Day 1: Christchurch Suburbs by Chris Mora
After a long morning at the Art Gallery getting our permits I was given my first assignment: go outside the Central Business District to the Summer Lifeboat Station from the NZ Coastguard. Our task was simply provide a Level 2 assessment (i.e. go inside the building) so the coastguard can reoccupy the building and go back to business. While away from the CBD made me feel I was "missing out on the action", I ...
Posted by Chris Mora on March 10, 2011 7:29 PM
Day 1: Central Business District by Lucie Fougner
Finally at about 14:00, Laurie and I joined up with a team of two engineers from the North Island to investigate car parks, which were a priority for people who are still trying to get their cars out that were left in the CBD. We were happy to be put to work after being told we may just want to come back tomorrow to be assigned to a team. While we ...
Posted by Lucie Fougner on March 10, 2011 7:10 PM
