In The Days

• Source: Daily Mail
• News Date: 9/5/10

‘One side of the Earth has lurched to the right … up to 11ft and in some places been thrust up,’ he said. ‘We went and saw two houses that were completely snapped in half by the earthquake.’

moving one side of the earth 11ft to the right

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Earthquakes

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes•Strongs 4578: seismos, sice-mos´; from 4579; a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake:—earthquake, tempest.
•Strongs 4579: seio, si´-o; apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), i.e. (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively, to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):—move, quake, shake., in divers places.”
—Matthew 24:7

“The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.”
— Isaiah 24:20

The earthquake that devastated a city in New Zealand tore open a new 11ft faultine in the Earth’s surface.
The 7.1-magnitude quake which hit Christchurch, the country’s second-largest city, destroyed about 500 buildings and caused an estimated £930million of damage.
But hundreds of lives were saved by tough building rules, it was claimed. Only two injuries were reported.

The quake was caused by the continuing collision between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates, said Professor Mark Quigley, of Canterbury University.

The quake cut power across the region, roads were blocked by debris and gas and water supplies were disrupted.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said power was back to 90 per cent of the city and water supply had resumed for all but 15 to 20 per cent of residents.

Portable toilets had been provided and tanks of fresh water placed around the city. Mr Parker said it would take a long time to fix fully some core services such as water and sewerage. ‘Our first priority is just people,’ he said. ‘That’s our worry.’

The fact that no one was killed was put down to the timing of the quake and strict building codes.
‘New Zealand has very good building codes which mean the buildings are strong compared with, say, Haiti,’ said Professor Martha Savage of Victoria University in the capital Wellington.

The Anglican Dean of Christchurch, the Rev Peter Beck, added: ‘Thank God for earthquake strengthening ten years ago.’
Prime Minister John Key said it was a miracle no one was killed. He put that down to the building codes and because the quake happened just before dawn on Saturday.

‘If this had happened five hours earlier or five hours later there would have been absolute carnage in terms of human life,’ he said. Parts of the city look like they’ve been put in the tumble dryer.’

Up to 90 extra police officers had flown in to Christchurch to help and troops were likely to join the recovery effort today. Engineering teams have begun assessing damage to all central areas.
Schools across the region will remain closed for the next two days to allow time to check whether they were safe.

Roger Bates, whose dairy farm at Darfield was close to the quake’s epicentre 19 miles west of Christchurch, said the new faultline had ripped up the surface across his land.‘The whole dairy farm is like the sea now, with real soil waves right across the dairy farm.

‘We don’t have physical holes (but) where the fault goes through it’s been raised a metre or metre and a half.’
New Zealand records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, but only about 150 are felt by residents. Fewer than ten a year do any damage.