22 February is not a special day on our trip, but for many people in Christchurg this is a day they will never forget. Four years ago, on 22 February 2011 at 12:51pm, a major magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Christchurg and 24 seconds of shaking ripped out the heart of the city and 185 people were killed in the event. This earthquake followed another major earthquake 6 months earlier and the two together caused significant damage to the city centre and several suburbs and altered the landscape and the people of Christchurg forever. Today the people of Christchurg and many others came together to commemorate the anniversary of this sad event.
We visited Christchurg exactly four years after the earthquake and only after walking on foot through the damaged area you get a sense of the impact this earthquake has had on the city. There are still many damaged buildings in the centre, demolition is still ongoing and everywhere you see construction sites. Over thousand buildings in a four block radius in the centre, about a third of the total number of buildings, were demolished following the earthquakes. Devastating to see and especially knowing that so many people have lost their lives.
But luckily the people of Christchurg are resilient and you can feel a new and creative vibe in the centre. Artists have made sculptures and paintings to bring back colour in town. A new temporary shopping mall build from colourful sea containers has arisen, aptly called the ‘Re: Start mall’, with lots of nice shops, coffee places and eateries. The old Anglican Cathedral is still badly damaged but plans are underway to also restore this in its full glory. And even the old tram is riding again. Street artists are back and some places are buzzing again with tourists and locals. Everywhere you see new things and glimmers of hope for a city that is still badly hurt and that will need years to recover from this disaster.
