Being a Disaster Tourist

Of course, despite all my protestations to the contrary, one of the real reasons I wanted to visit Christchurch was to see what happened to the downtown area because of the earthquake. So on my second day in town, I took a bus and headed to the city center to have a look-see. The center of Christchurch is a large of historical buildings. Brick, sandstone, and other older building materials are what many buildings in the downtown are made of. And many were not apparently set on quake-resistant foundations. Many didn't have any other quake-inspired adjustments to help them weather an earthquake. And so, the two large earthquakes (and numerous smaller, yet still at times quite powerful, aftershocks) that have struck the city did a great deal of damage. Where a walk through the outer areas of Christchurch shows building here and there that are damaged, or empty lots where a building had to be taken down, the downtown core is blocked off. For a several block radius, entry to the downtown area is restricted to personnel who are evaluating buildings, engaged in their rehabilitation, or engaged in preparations to take them down. The entire area is designated a red zone, where anyone not permitted to be there will be arrested on entrance.

Of course, right outside the red zone, life and critical activities are allowed to continue. I wonder if this building was ever placed in the red zone and, if it was, how much time was wasted in getting it cleared as safe. (I know gamblers, you see, and I doubt they even wanted to leave the machine or table they were sitting at when the quakes stuck. I have doubts they even took notice of it at all.)

There is a lot of work going on in the city center. Much of it, unfortunately, is demolition.

And of that, much of the demolition is on older, often historical buildings. These are buildings that were built without thought to protecting them from earthquakes. And although an earthquake could probably get the best defended building, given just the right kind of shake, many of the buildings in the center of Christchurch were not built with earthquakes in mind.

And they have fallen.

Or almost fallen.

Of course, others look like they were barely affected.

On the other hand, if it was shaken around enough to do this, then they ought to make damn sure it wasn't.

Because looks...

...can certainly be deceiving. While I was having a look at this building, I heard a woman talking to some others about this being her workplace. It's a teacher's college. They were able to salvage a bunch of things from the building, but were only given a few minutes leave to do so by officials. They saved some of the children's books in their collection and other such materials, but most of the general office things were left behind. This day was the day the building was to be taken down. I suppose she was there to watch it happen.

Churches seemed to be most affected.

But they took pains to make sure they were still in business.

Even those who serve to protect us from disastrous events were affected. The brick building beside these fire trucks was damaged enough to be unsafe. The office furniture was removed from it and placed in the truck bays of the garage, and the fire trucks were moved outside. But the road is blocked and soon the fire house has to find another place to put the trucks so that they are still close enough to be able to respond to emergencies, but still not be in the way of the earthquake recovery.

This church used to be the iconic image of Christchurch. Obviously it was severely damaged in the quake.

But despite the huge cost that will undoubtedly be involved, they are taking it down brick by brick, marking where each piece belongs, and then they will put it back up, with earthquake protections no doubt.

There are signs that suggest that this event took place in the middle of daily life. And that people just ran for their lives. Things have been left exactly where they must have been on the day, and have been untouched since.

There are touches of irony around as well. I think this place now has bigger things to worry about restoring.

And I wonder if anyone will see the irony of this one.

There is also anger and the expressed desire to have things put back where they belong. That, of course, would be wonderful, but it's also unrealistic. It would be lovely if most or all of these buildings could be put back together again and everything return to the way it was. But the reality is that restoring all those buildings will be prohibitively expensive, and then no insurance company is ever going to insure them unless they have been fortified against any future earthquakes, which will be more expensive still. The reality is that most of these buildings in the center of Christchurch, the ones that have been severely damaged and have been taken down, will ever be rebuilt. They will be replaced with new, safer buildings that, unfortunately, will have less character and history.

But it isn't all going to be taken down. Many buildings will survive. But all have to be checked. I'm not sure how it must be to face the kind of daunting task it must be to have to check each and every building in order to discern if it is safe, if it can be repaired if it isn't, and if it must be taken down if it can't be repaired.

So, I spent an eye-opening day taking a walk around the downtown of Christchurch. I suppose I should be feeling a bit sheepish about being a disaster tourist, peering into a city's little drama and tragedy. But then I wasn't the only one, so I felt much better.