Christchurch Earthquake

Our Christchurch-based research teams have been disrupted again by two severe earthquakes this afternoon, the first at 1.00pm (magnitude 5.5) and the second at 2.20pm (magnitude 6.0).

From the director:

There are reports of significant damage in the city, with collapsed buildings, disrupted services, rock falls in the eastern hill suburbs, flooding and liquefaction. Mercifully there are no reported fatalities, although there are many with significant injuries. And the toll this latest series of events will take on the people of Christchurch cannot be underestimated.

The University of Canterbury campus was evacuated after the first earthquake this afternoon and will remain closed all day tomorrow (14 June) while buildings and facilities are inspected. It is likely that many areas will remain closed or will be disrupted beyond this time, so please consider your friends and colleagues at this time as they deal with the hard graft of getting their home lives and their laboratories back on track once again. My (untrained) assessment of the situation is that it is not as severe as after the February events, so we are hopeful of an early return to our labs and offices.

Our people are grateful for the many offers of help and assistance that have come in since this series of seismic upheavals began last September, and there may be need for more help in the days and week ahead. At this stage it is not clear what help will be needed, given the uncertainties of the state of facilities and the fact that many labs are still in restart mode after the February events. We will happily coordinate offers of help centrally (please feel free to contact me directly, but it may be best to contact your colleagues and collaborators directly if you know exactly who you can help and how.

We will endeavour to update you further on the situation later in the week as more information comes to hand.

Stay safe, Richard