Damage from quakes psychological - PM
Prime Minister John Key says the most significant damage from Christchurch's recent aftershocks is psychological.
Liquefaction and flooding were still causing problems in the eastern suburbs following two magnitude-5.8 and 6.0 quakes.
There have been 36 shakes since the first quake at 1.58pm yesterday, with many over magnitude-4.
Did you feel the quakes? Email your news, video and photos to us at newstips@stuff.co.nz
But Key told a media conference this afternoon that the city's infrastructure was ''largely back up and operational''.
"What we can conclude is that the most significant damage from the earthquakes is really the psychological damage and the impact on the confidence of the people of the Christchurch.
"I think this is a year when they are looking very much forward to seeing the end of it and I think we have all been hoping that since June the situation would be calming down.
''This is quite a blow to the people of Canterbury, but I want them to know that the country is 100 per cent behind them, that our resolution to see Christchurch rebuilt has not diminished in any way as a result of the aftershocks.''
Key said a full assessment of damage would need to be undertaken to ascertain whether these later aftershocks would blow out any repair bill.
''There will be some additional cost ... but we don't think that will be overly significant ... we don't think it will have a dramatic impact on insurers.''
Meanwhile, hundreds of people picked up shovels to help with the cleanup following the swarm of earthquakes.
Cantabrians hoping Christmas celebrations would be a brighter end to a bleak year were dealing with more damage to homes, infrastructure and businesses.
Thirty Christchurch homes were still without power, but water was now restored to residents in the suburb of Sumner.
Contractors were busy filling potholes and cleaning the roads today, while volunteers also joined the cause.
"We won't get all the liquefaction out of every nook and cranny, but we'll make it safe and easy for people to move around the roads," Mayor Bob Parker said today.
The Student Army has been mobilised, and head Sam Johnson this morning said it was appealing for volunteers to give a hand on boxing day and Dec 27.
"We'll be putting on a light lunch, food in the afternoon for everyone, and we'll be clearing up the liquefaction, but getting access to people's homes is the important thing," he said.
Parker said there was real determination to not allow the quakes to ruin Christmas.
Crews have been working overnight and would continue to work today to restore all services.
"Our goal is that by the end of the day we will have made the necessary emergency repairs to our water, wastewater and roads by tonight.
"It has been a hellish year. I am determined to get as much as we can fixed by tonight so that our staff, apart from a skeleton team, can spend Christmas with their families," Parker said.
There were still 30 Orion customers without power, and the company said the network in New Brighton and Bexley would remain fragile for some time.
Parker said everyone should also have power by the end of the day.
The Christchurch Wastewater Plant was fully operational, but there were wastewater overflows into the Avon River and into the Styx.
Neighbourhood Support staff have been working closely with Civil Defence to coordinate their 2000 volunteers across the city to gather information from the badly affected areas.
Welfare teams have been door-knocking in the east and have made contact with 300 householders as well as people in the street.
Ambulance staff treated about 60 people for quake-related injuries, including falls and heart problems, but none were known to be serious last night.
Most retailers were back in business today, with Northlands Mall and The Hub Hornby open.
Riccarton Westfield was open, but some stores, including Dick Smith, were still cleaning up and would open later in the afternoon. The top floor of Farmers was also closed.
A Northlands Mall spokesman said a few shops had yet to reopen, but staff were working to clear any earthquake mess and it looked likely all stores would be trading by mid-morning.
The Palms will remain closed today, as contractors work to clear the mess wreaked by yesterday's earthquakes.
Shoppers who had left vehicles in the centre car park are now able to collect them.
Liquefaction triggered by the jolts yesterday flooded streets and properties. There were large deposits in Bexley, Avondale, New Brighton, Burwood, and Parklands.
Pegasus Avenue in New Brighton and Branksome Place in Parklands have suffered major liquefaction and sewage leaks.
Bexley resident Corey Trist, who is waiting to move from his red-zoned house into a yet to be built new home, faced a Christmas Eve of cleaning up. It was the fifth time his property had been hit by liquefaction.
"It's ruined [Christmas] for me."
Others like Avonside resident Bev Mulcay, whose house is also red-zoned, simply said: "I'm over it now. I've had enough."
Hundreds of travellers had their Christmas plans disrupted after Christchurch Airport was closed following the first quake.
The airport reopened at 5.30pm yesterday after the runways and terminal were cleared, but the backlog is not expected to be cleared until today.
Among buildings which suffered further damage was the already ruined Christ Church Cathedral in the central city. Its rose window had completely collapsed and more damage was feared after yesterday's quakes, said Dean Peter Beck.
Beck said the new quakes were a "huge emotional shock".
"We were starting to get traction again and now it feels like June 13 [which had 5.6 and 6.3 quakes] again," he said.
All Anglican services in greater Christchurch would be held outdoors this weekend.
In Sydenham, the 100-year-old former Post Office building was urgently demolished last night after sustaining further damage in yesterday's shake. The Blue Jean Cuisine building was already slated for demolition, but the work was brought forward.
Parker said the quakes were a "hammer blow" for the city's residents.
He said the jolts were a "terrible, terrible psychological blow" following a long period without a major shake.
"This pushes us back, because a lot of rechecking needs to be done. I'd say there will be a few more buildings that will need to be demolished because of this."
He was optimistic that the city's residents would remain resilient.
"I think we will bounce back pretty quickly. For some people this will be a last straw, but I think the vast majority have shown they're here to stay."
- © Fairfax NZ News
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So many people say, take your kids and yourself to Australia. Please bear in mind the changes to residency in Australia since 2001. If something goes wrong eg with health, you cannot access sickness benefit. You cannot access unemployment if you lose a job. In New Zealand you still have these protections. People in Australia have paid tax in Australia for 10 years and cannot access student loans for their children and they cannot access help during a disaster eg flooding. We have Dunedin, Nelson, Timaru, Invercargill, Ashburton in the South Island. I could go on. I am just saying think carefully about moving and losing the rights you have here as a New Zealand citizen. Good luck if you do make the move.
Gee look at all the photos of the 'psychological' damage!
The headline "damage from quakes psychological" is misleading. It changes the sense of what the PM said.
@tom.jung Dont worry, you and the kids will be ok. All the people that you deal with here will know the risks and what you should do. Chch is still a lovely place and we look forward to seeing you here.
What John MEANT to say was .........just when the poor buggers in Christchurch thought they could relax..............."NEK MINIT!"...... We had already all lost out minds...I did not want fireworks as banging and popping noises made us all feel jumpy... Trucks going past make us panic. Just a tough way to live and jolly exhausting. I understand he was trying to look on the bright side saying no one was killed or badly injured and no more severe structural damage but I have friends up to their knees in liquefaction again in "Green zone" which happens to be the edge of RED....just tough doing it all again...and again and again. Sick of picking ourselves and all our belongings up, and "getting on with it". roads are munted, nerves are shattered....hanging on to hope but very little else.
S
What means about "damage from Christchurch's recent aftershocks is psychological" It means the earthquake is not earthquake? So people don't be afraid only need to visit a doctor as psychological. Next time when quake again , please get one tablet of "ASPIRIN" then go to bed, tomorrow will be another-day.
John Key is psychologically disturbing...
A long time ago the government and council should have purchased safe land near Christchurch (it has some already I think at Rolleston) and moved in a convoy of house-removal trucks to uplift ALL houses in the affected area and deposited them in suburban style at the new location. Then the massive costs already wasted could have been spent on building a new more modern infrastructure. Tough for the "experts" that have no real idea what is happening below Chch as their "science" and their exorbitant fees could be spent on real people building a better future for very distraught people now living with the ineptitude of their council and government. Don't waste more time and money - move. History shows there are many cities around the world that were abandoned due to EQ destruction.
Said it before during the last lot of wobblies down there. Chch is not worth rebuilding where the land is crap, regardless of the $1000+ a day "experts, (consultants, council and politicians)". The rest of NZ should NOT have to pay for their folly. Leave the ruined cathedral as it is, as a tourist attraction - there are many such places throughout Britain and Europe (e.g. Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders) - it shows history. But of course NZ is great at destroying it's own history - daft eedjits. Rebuild the city elsewhere.
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To all those that say that Christchurch has to be moved and or abandoned please pull your heads out. Yes some areas will have to be abandoned and frankly there should be a thorough investigation into why property developments were allowed in areas like Pacific Park. However the media never come to unglamorous suburbs like mine (Bryndwr) where there is barely any damage and no mounds of liquefaction, hence the perception being the reality (of course having said that I dont want to belittle the problems people are facing out east) Bryan could you please ellaborate? Which cities have been abandoned? Both Niigata and San Francisco suffered extensive liquefaction yet they have been rebuilt in roughly the same areas.