As of Thursday, 24 February, rescue workers have confirmed 98 fatalities with another 226 people still missing following the earthquake in New Zealand earlier this week.

Catastrophe analysts at RMS have issued a statement reporting secondary impacts from the ground shaking throughout the region, including cases of fire following earthquake, landslides, and localised liquefaction, as well as flooding.

Power, communications, and essential services continue to be disrupted across the region and major problems continue with critical infrastructure in Christchurch, in particular water and sewerage systems. Aftershocks, they report, are expected to continue and could lead to further building damage or collapse, and possible further disruption to power, communications, and essential services.

Damage is considerable in Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city, following the 6.3Mw quake. In particular, the central business district has experienced a number of collapsed or seriously damaged buildings.

Damage assessment in Christchurch is ongoing and assessment was commencing in the city’s suburbs on Thursday. The damage appears to be more extensive than following the September 2010 earthquake.

Severe damage is being reported in the town Lyttelton, closest to the earthquake epicentre. There are confirmed reports of landslides at Sumner. Western suburbs, such as Hornsby, appear to have escaped much of the devastation that has affected the central, eastern, and southern parts of the city.

“Secondary impacts from the ground shaking are emerging throughout the region, including cases of fire following earthquake, landslides, and localized liquefaction, as well as flooding,” said Emily Paterson, associate manager of cat response at RMS. “There have been numerous reports of liquefaction as a result of this event. Furthermore, the suburb of Bexley, experienced flooding during Tuesday’s earthquake.”

As of Thursday, power, communications, and essential services continue to be disrupted across the region and major problems continue with critical infrastructure in Christchurch, in particular water and sewerage systems.

Aftershocks are expected to continue and could lead to further building damage or collapse, and possible further disruption to power, communications and essential services.

The National Crisis Centre has been activated and a National State of Emergency has been declared in New Zealand as a result of Tuesday’s earthquake. Canterbury Police, as of late Thursday, have confirmed 98 fatalities, and are reporting a further 226 as missing. Officials have serious concerns that the missing have not survived, based on information from police inquires and the likelihood that the missing are within the most severely affected areas of Christchurch.

The relatively high toll compared to the September 2010 Darfield Earthquake is partly driven by the higher ground motions in Christchurch and the occurrence of the event during peak occupancy hours, as individuals were subject to falling debris or within more susceptible structures (eg. reinforced concrete versus wood frame structures).

Share Story: