FSP - Microcosm News- Earth Watch Report: Christchurch

Showing posts with label Christchurch. Show all posts

Friday, December 11, 2015

Biological Hazard - New Zealand, [Wellington, Motueka, Kaikoura and Christchurch] South Island : Measles

Biological Hazard	New Zealand	[Wellington, Motueka, Kaikoura and Christchurch] South Island

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Biological Hazard in New Zealand on December 11 2015 01:43 PM (UTC).

Base data

EDIS Number	BH-20151211-51213-NZL
Event type	Biological Hazard
Date/Time	December 11 2015 01:43 PM (UTC)
Last update	December 11 2015 01:46 PM (UTC)
Cause of event
Damage level	Is not or not known

Geographic information

Continent	Australia - New-Zealand
Country	New Zealand
County / State	South Island
Area	Wellington, Motueka, Kaikoura and Christchurch
Settlement
Coordinate	41° 7.443,173° 0.059

Number of affected people / Humanities loss

Dead person(s)	0
Injured person(s)	0
Missing person(s)	0
Evacuated person(s)	0
Affected person(s)	0
Foreign people	0

Biohazard information

Biohazard level

Disease, agent name	Measles
Infected person(s)	0
Species	Human
Status	suspected

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Biological Hazard in New Zealand on December 11 2015 01:43 PM (UTC).

A measles warning has been issued in several areas after an infected tourist traveled the country. A 28-year-old European man carrying the virus traveled from Wellington, to Motueka, Kaikoura and Christchurch from December 3 to 11. The Canterbury District Health Board now is asking anyone who may have come in contact with him and is now presenting symptoms to call their doctor. He is believed to have contracted the highly-infectious virus while in Australia and is in private accommodation in Christchurch until the end of his infectious period. Canterbury medical officer Alistair Humphrey said it was a particularly risky time for the tourism industry. "Over the next few years there is a heightened risk of measles as a result of the decision by parents in the 1990s not to get their children immunized," he said. Where He Stayed: December 3-5: Comfort Hotel, Cuba Street, Wellington,5 December 5: BlueBridge Ferry,December 5-7: Motueka Holiday Top 10,December 8-10: Lazy Shag Backpackers, Kaikoura,December 11: Travels to residence outside Christchurch

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msn news

Sick tourist prompts measles warning

NZ Newswire

Measles is untreatable but easily preventagle through vaccinations

A 28-year-old European man carrying the virus traveled from Wellington, to Motueka, Kaikoura and Christchurch from December 3 to 11.The Canterbury District Health Board now is asking anyone who may have come in contact with him and is now presenting symptoms to call their doctor.
He is believed to have contracted the highly-infectious virus while in Australia and is in private accommodation in Christchurch until the end of his infectious period.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Tornado - New Zealand, South Island, [North Canterbury]

Earth Watch Report - Tornado

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February 26 2014 06:35 PM

Tornado

New Zealand

South Island, [North Canterbury]

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Tornado in New Zealand on Wednesday, 26 February, 2014 at 18:35 (06:35 PM) UTC.

Description

A tornado has ripped its way through North Canterbury in New Zealand as rough weather and lightning caused extensive damage. The Civil Defence has arrived at the scene to inspect the damaged properties. According to fire service shift manager Andrew Norris, a group of homes in Amberley have been heavily damaged. The town is 50km north of Christchurch. Based on fire service reports, strong winds from the tornado had lifted the tiles off roofs of homes near the Burnham Military Camp. Southern Fire Communications Shift Manager Karl Patterson said he received reports of one house losing an entire roof. The tornado, barreling its way through South Island, also knocked down trees and caused power poles to catch fire. Mr Patterson said the fire service put out fires in Halsquell Quarry which were caused by lightning. Despite the damages to some homes and power lines, no casualties or injuries were reported. The clean-up continues in tornado-damaged areas, although 30 homes reported having no electricity by the afternoon of Feb 24. A resident from Amberley, Donna Graham, told Radio New Zealand that she and her husband, Geoff, saw the tornado form from hanging black clouds and realised the twister was moving straight to her house. She and her husband began running away from the house. They could hear the noises made by the tornado as it moved. The couple came out when they noticed they could not hear the tornado anymore. Civil Defence inspector Kerry Walsh said the damage caused by the tornado was worse than he expected. He said the clean-up was doing well. South Island's lines company Mainpower remarked that some of the power poles had to be replaced before electricity will be restored to homes. Aside from the tornado in Amberley, a smaller tornado was spotted in Leeston and was captured on video by "stormchaser" Stephen Burrows. Mr Burrows said the smaller tornado was approximately 100 metres wide but looked weaker in comparison to the one in Amberley. The tornadoes were caused by a severe thunderstorm in parts of Canterbury. The MetService has warned residents in the area to prepare for a storm with torrential rain and large hail. According to weather authorities, the storm had formed near the coast of Timaru and made its way to Christchurch. The storm was classified as a "supercell" because it caused large hailstones and small tornadoes.

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The New Zealand Herald

Tornado strikes homes as storm lashes town

By Ben Irwin

8:31 AM Monday Feb 24, 2014

A damaged building on a plant farm near Amberley, north Canterbury. Photo / Martin Hunter

Rough weather, lightning, and reports of a tornado caused extensive damage in North Canterbury last night.

Video Fire service shift manager Andrew Norris said a "cluster of houses" in Amberley, 50km north of Christchurch, had been badly damaged about 6.30pm.
Southern fire communications shift manager Karl Patterson said the strong winds lifted tiles off roofs near the Burnham Military Camp area and three houses in Amberley, 50km north of Christchurch, were also affected.
"One house completely lost its roof. Another house had extensive roof damage [and] windows blown in."
The weather also caused power pole fires and trees to be knocked down," Mr Patterson said.
"Apparently a tornado of some description sort of went through just near the coast - it caused a little bit of damage, but we did a check of all the houses in the area and they were ok.
"We had a couple of fires started by lightning, we had a fire in Halswell Quarry, out the south-west side of town.
"Also, in Little River we had a tree catch on fire in the middle of a tree plantation of some description."
There were no reports of injuries, Mr Patterson said.

Read More Here

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

New Zealand : Civil Defence officials say there could be up to 10,000 casualties when the Alpine Fault ruptures - and 1000 could be fatal.

Aerial view of the Alpine Fault

Great Alpine Fault

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New Zealand Herald

Dire quake warning for Alpine Fault

By Shelley Robinson

9:40 AM Wednesday Apr 10, 2013

The West Coast would suffer most of those casualties and Christchurch will be relatively unscathed in comparison.
The figures have been revealed by Civil Defence emergency management group leader James Thompson, as Civil Defence, hospitals, police and other emergency services plan for a major exercise to prepare for The Big One.
The Alpine Fault is expected to rupture within 50 years, a one-in-500 year event that will produce a devastating earthquake of a magnitude 8 or more.
Towns and cities throughout the South Island will feel its tremendous power, with those on the West Coast taking most of its brunt.
Settlements and possibly towns are expected to be cut off for long periods because of landslides and wrecked roading and other links.

Read More Here

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IBTimes

Wellington Earthquakes: Bigger Aftershocks Possible, Residents Advised to Prepare

By Reissa Su | July 22, 2013 12:17 PM EST

The Wellington earthquake could have brought a lot of damage, but the possibility of bigger aftershocks remains high, according to scientists.

The fault line that caused the earthquakes in Cook Strait has long been known to produce earthquake "swarms" but none have been recorded as devastating, according to historical records.
The Wellington quakes that occurred three times on Friday, July 19, and twice on July 21 and the following aftershocks were due to city's plates moving between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates. The highest magnitude of an earthquake in Wellington was recorded last night at 6.5.

Dr. Richard Sharpe, Director of Earthquake Engineering at Beca said he did not expect the yesterday's quakes at Wellington will cause damage to buildings. However, Mr. Sharpe said the quakes would prompt the city to conduct engineering checks.
New Zealand is resilient to earthquakes in general. According to Mr. Sharpe, other countries that will experience the same type of earthquakes in Wellington will probably cause very brittle buildings to sustain damage.
Professor of Geophysics at Victoria University Euan Smith said that the interface between the underlying Pacific plates and overlying Australian plates was a critical fault. Mr. Smith said the same fault could potentially cause massive earthquakes.

Read More and Watch Video Here

Monday, July 22, 2013

Damage and power blackouts in Wellington after quake of magnitude 6.9 is recorded off coast of North Island

An empty shipping container sits in the harbour where the land fell into the sea at the Port Wellington Container terminal caused by yesterdays earthquake on July 22, 2013. (AFP)

The New World supermarket in Blenheim, on New Zealand's south island, is closed after the earthquake. Photo: Emma Allen/Fairfax NZ

Source: Supplied

BNZ building on Wellington's waterfront.

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Earthquake rattles New Zealand capital

Agencies in Wellington and Canberra
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 21 July 2013 02.55 EDT

Link to video: Earthquake hits New Zealand Capital The New Zealand capital, Wellington, was rattled by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Sunday that broke water mains, smashed windows and downed power lines.
Wellington police Inspector Marty Parker said there had been minor structural damage and parts of the city were left without power but there were no reports of injury and no tsunami.
The US Geological Survey said the quake happened under the Cook Strait 35 miles (57km) south-west of Wellington and six miles (10km) beneath the surface. The strait separates the main North and South Islands of New Zealand.
The quake could be felt hundreds of miles away in the centre of the North Island.
Parker said the quake struck near nightfall. A more complete picture of the damage would emerge in the morning, he said.
The Reuters news agency said the quake knocked items off shelves, shattered some windows and brought trains in Wellington to a halt. It was the largest of a series of tremors that had shaken the region in the past few days.
New Zealand is part of the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire" that has regular seismic activity. A severe earthquake in the city of Christchurch on the South Island in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed much of the city's downtown.

Read More and Watch Video Here