Video of the shaking of the M 6.0  earthquake

Michelle Collins from Christchurch captured the shaking by accident as her camcorder was still running while positioned on a Christmas tree. She talks to the NZ Herald about the experience. This is what a M 6.0 feels like if you live near the epicenter. The heavy shaking lasted “only”  10 seconds, longer would certainly have generated much more damage. Miss Collins runs immediately outside while the shaking is still going on. Not wise at all, but in her case forgivable as she was only a few meters away from the patio/garden.

Liquefaction also occurred today. Funny to look at but something which may become very dangerous with higher magnitudes

Update 18:55 UTC
CERA (Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority) has advised the authorities that a Christchurch wide survey of houses would be desirable. The main reason of such a check is to find out whether the houses can withstand a new strong earthquake.

Update 17:40 UTC
M 5.1      2011/12/23 17:36    Depth 9.0 km     CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
local time 06:37
One of the stronger aftershocks right below the Akaroa peninsula on a location that we had almost no aftershocks so far
10 km east of Akaroa and 50 km south-east of Christchurch
Satellite map of the greater epicenter area

Update 16:26 UTC
In Sydenham, the 100-year-old former Post Office building was demolished last night after sustaining further damage during yesterday’s aftershock.

Update 16:10 UTC
29 + M 3.0 aftershocks since the mainshock!

Update 15:06 UTC – An example to all earthquake sensitive countries in the world
Telecommunications were not hit that hard as a result of the quake. The disruption noticed was due to the problems with the main power supply, which implicated that some equipment was operating on battery and generator backup.
Telecom was asking people to use texts, rather than calling, in order to ease the load on its mobile networks. Emergency calling remained operational (Earthquake-Report.com is in favor of this policy – other countries should follow this example asap (we have encountered continuous problems elsewhere in the world due to too high peaks and due to non-battery backup masts).

Update 10:52 UTC
It looks like the current epicenter can be called “little out of range” of the other powerful earthquakes. The epicenter of the initial quake who triggered the other ones was was located a little out of the coast. Hopefully this will not start off a new episode of aftershocks

for more information and updates, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2011/12/23/3-large-dangerous-aftershocks-hit-christchurch-new-zealand/