Aftershocks put quake city rebuild on hold
NEW ZEALAND: Dangerous aftershocks have left the battered city of
Christchurch struggling to rebuild 12 months after a devastating
earthquake and raised doubts over its economic future.
Much of the downtown area was destroyed and remains sealed off
following the 6.3-magnitude quake on February 22 last year, which killed
185 people as it flattened office blocks, buckled roads and brought
historic buildings crashing down.
Hotels and shops lie empty behind the wire-mesh fences of the "red
zone", which covers most of the central business area -- a ghost town of
broken buildings and vacant lots with weeds poking out from exposed
foundations.
The only sound of activity from within is the crash of rubble being
dumped into skips as workers still toil to clear debris from the
historic precinct which was once the pride of New Zealand's second
largest city.
Plans are afoot for a NZ$30 billion ($24.5 billion) rebuilding
programme, the largest construction effort in the country's history, to
restore Christchurch to its former glory as capital of the South Island.
But constant seismic activity has frustrated the effort, with about
10,000 aftershocks recorded since September 2010, when a 7.0-magnitude
quake on a previously unknown fault line began what has become a trial
of endurance for the city.
No-one was killed in that quake and reconstruction was well under way
before the deadly February tremor hit, lower in magnitude but shallower
and with an epicentre much closer to the city centre's already weakened
buildings.
Auckland,Sunday,AFP |
