This page is about the New Zealand city. For other uses, see Christchurch (disambiguation).
Christchurch, population about 400,000, is the largest South Island city, the only officially-known city in Canterbury. Maori: Otautahi. From it can be seen the Southern Alps, popular with tourists and climbers. - It was the birthplace of Katherine Mansfield, the 'modernist' short-story writer, whose works have been much translated - but long after her death at 35 years.
Earthquakes in 2010 and 2011
In September 2010 most of Canterbury was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale, centred about 40 km west of Christchurch. Mercifully, there was not a single fatality, largely because of the timing, in the early hours of the morning. Thousands of aftershocks occurred in succeeding months.
On Tuesday 22 February 2011, a smaller (6.3) but much shallower and closer earthquake hit Christchurch at 12:51 pm, followed by several aftershocks of over 5.0 and many smaller. Rescuers from at least six countries came to help the local Search and Rescue teams. Water supplies were mostly cut, and most people had no electricity during the first night. By the following afternoon, the death toll had reached 75 and there were a few hundred people reported missing. The Government declared a National State of Emergency. Australia sent 290 police to help with maintaining security and whatever else seemed appropriate.
About 80 people were rescued from damaged buildings and vehicles by the end of Wednesday 23rd. But not a single person was rescued in the subsequent week. On Thursday 3 March the operations were officially "transitioned" from rescue to recovery. At that time the number of confirmed dead was 160 and was expected to reach about 240.
One of the many results of the quake was the cancellation of the 2011 Hikoi.
Motto
Fide condita, fructu beata, spe fortis.
In faith founded, in fulfillment blessed, in hope strong.
2014
Prince William and his wife and baby visited the town.
2015
Christchurch will host 3 matches in the February-March World Cricket Cup.
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