Fragments: First-hand accounts of the February 2011 earthquake

Warning: This story contains first-hand accounts of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake that might be distressing for some readers.

Those who were in Christchurch on February 22, 2011 all have a story to tell.

Maybe some people told their stories several times to our friends and family – they got used to it and started defining the day for them.

They all talk about the same day – the stories unfold simultaneously, overlap – people cross paths and help each other.

Grant Cameron and his team had to use ropes and other equipment to exit their office building after stairs collapsed.Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

All of their narratives are fragments of the same story – all small parts of a larger story – the story of a Shattered City.

RNZ marks 10 years since the Great Earthquake on February 22, 2011 with a six-part series of Fragments podcast produced and presented by Christchurch-based journalist Katy Gosset.

The series compiles an archive of firsthand accounts recorded in the months following the devastating earthquake recorded by locals Julie Houghton and Sandra Close.

Ten years later, RNZ has reached out to some survivors to reflect on their experiences.

How did surviving an earthquake change their way of life?

Episode 5: The Journeys

For many people, their February 22, 2011 accounts were about the movement; Leaving the city or traveling to the city, trying to find a family: children, partners, or just to escape and get out of whatever situation they find themselves in.

Just getting around the city was a challenge due to the effect of the earthquake on the roads. Right after that, the city became overcrowded.

Many people ended up walking wherever they needed to go.

Two weeks after it happened, there were still major disturbances – 33 major roads totaling about 59 km remained closed.

A month later, police said travel times around the city were twice as long as usual.

Some people were left without cars at all in the month after the earthquake. 1,400 cars were recovered from the city center.

A speed limit of 30 km has been set up for the eastern suburbs to prevent further road degradation and to enable repairs.

The civil defense said 38,000 road failures needed to be repaired.

Bus driver Anya Hansen was waiting to take a group of teachers to a meeting, then schoolchildren from a stroll in the museum when the earthquake struck.

“The glass was flying over the bus, people were shouting and it was just so surreal, actually.”

The damage to the roads was so bad that she couldn’t reach the teachers, so she started working on reaching the children.

“The cars … were just everywhere, no one was going to let you drive around, and of course, people were just running and screaming and I didn’t really want to run over anyone.”

The normally five-minute trip to the museum used to take half an hour – but the kids were there.

On arrival she got more than she bargained for: literally more children than she could handle.

“I think between parents and teachers and children, maybe a little over 100 people, and my bus has only 39 seats.

With no other buses available, they all jammed and headed to their school.

“I didn’t want the kids to see what happened in the city. I didn’t know … I didn’t want them to see if there were any corpses or anyone, you know, it wasn’t fair to them. So I chose the best path that would get us away.” Kind of about the type of city area. “

Then there were aftershocks.

“I think it was 5.1, and the next minute the bus was going from side to side.

“The doors are closed so that the parents do not fall out of the doors.

“And I had a car on my side and I was looking at the drivers and just this horrific look absolute on their faces as this bus was coming towards their cars from side to side. They … honestly, they should” They thought they were going to be crushed. “

Three weeks after the earthquake, Anja was diagnosed with cancer. Now, she’s happy to say that she is cancer-free and that she found time to think about the day of the earthquake afterward.

That doesn’t mean she doesn’t flinch when there is a shiver – and like a lot of people in Christchurch, it feels like it’s just a matter of time until another big shock occurs.

“It feels like a waiting game,” she says.

Anja doesn’t feel the earthquake has changed much. You think cancer is more dangerous. She was awarded the Christchurch earthquake award for her services that day but she doesn’t want to make a fuss about it – “It was for the kids”.

Back on February 22, 2011, parents are desperate for their children.

Liz Murray used to work on the BNZ building. Her journey was – like her journey – on foot.

Once out, she immediately thought about her family and how she would get to them.

“The only thing I could think of all the time when I was standing outside is, I need to walk. I need to walk … I just remember walking down the street and thinking, Okay, I have to come home. What is the house going to be like?”

Traffic on the streets was bumper. Once you ran over the bridge as fast as you could – she didn’t want to be on it during the aftershock.

When she approached the house, she saw students from her son’s school.

I stopped one of the boys and said, ‘Hey, what happened to the Shirley Boys?’ … and they said he collapsed, it’s really bad. “

“I remember just walking again and thinking, ‘Well, okay, if I don’t know what classroom I’m going to take the dogs. I have two little Jack Russells and they’ll smell it. They will find it, wherever it is, how … and if it is trapped, I will take it out. I will start digging and will not stop. “

When she returned home, a neighbor reassured her that her son was fine.

“I went around the corner and lo and behold, you know, 14 years old, everything felt like a pepper, standing in the corner of the house, on a shovel trying to help this guy get out this car that sank in the ground from the front and just looked at him, you know, it was better. Feeling “.

Back in CBD, Grant Cameron was in a law firm on the sixth floor of the Forsyth Barr Building.

When his crew met in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, one of his lawyers ran in.

He said, “The stairs are gone,” and none of us had bowed in this.

And I said, ‘Are you kidding? “No, they went,” he said, “… I’ve been near death because half of the landing went with them.”

With stairs gone, his team’s journey was about to begin. Relatively short, distance-wise – but tough and dangerous.

On one side of the building, the car park has reached the third level.

“I thought, yeah, we could break a window. Maybe we could get out of here if we had to but what would we be using as ropes?”

They began to prepare for the use of electrical cables. Then one of them found a civil defense locker in another tenant on the same floor that had rope and other equipment in it.

They faked a system to diminish people. The only question was – who was the first?

“We caught one of the lawyers who was a bit too tall and said, ‘Well, you are number one’ …

“A system with two ropes, with two people working on each rope, and we worked quickly on how that happened, and it worked very well.”

By the time only two of them remained, the crane crew had arrived at the scene and helped them disembark.

“The last package that was downgraded was a whole package from Heineken,” says Grant.

They have decided that they deserve a beer.

Grant’s life has since been “messy, in one word.”

It would be fair to say that work resulting from the earthquake overshadowed Grant’s own experience that day.

“We just didn’t have time to think about it much.”

Grant’s practice was back on its feet within two weeks, and that was okay because the work was already there. He’s spent the last 10 years helping people fight EQC or their insurance companies.

And all of this means less self-care or time away from work. Being under the tail for 10 years may have taken a toll on his and his wife’s health.

Grant remains critical of the repatriation and believes more should have been done to stimulate business in Canterbury. Everyone has learned a lot of hard lessons about how life can change in an instant and how the insurance claims process can be complex, cumbersome, and often never-ending. He says there should be better protection of people’s rights.

You can hear more about what life like for earthquake survivors 10 years later by listening to Fragments Episode 5: The Journeys.

The parts were written and presented by Katie Gossett and co-produced by Gossett and Justin Gregory. It was designed by Alex Harmer and Rangi Powick. Video content Nathan MacKinnon. Tim Watkin is the executive producer of podcasts and series.

Thanks to Julie Hutton and Sandra Close for their work on recording interviews and for those who agreed to re-interview with RNZ.

Where to get help:

Need to talk? Call for free or text 1737 anytime to speak to a trained counselor, for any reason.

Lifeline: 0800 543354 or send HELP to 4357

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508828865/0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be considering suicide, or those who care about family or friends.

Depression Helpline: 08001111757 (24/7) or text 4202

Samaritans: 0800726666 (24/7)

Youth Line: 0800376633 (24/7) or free text message 234 (8 AM – 12 AM), or email [email protected]

What’s up: Chat online (3 PM to 10 PM) or 0800 WhatsApp / 0800 9428787 Helpline (12 PM – 10 PM on weekdays, 3 PM – 11 PM on weekends)

Children’s Line (5-18 years): 0800543754 (24/7)

Rural Support Fund helpline: 0800 787 254

Health line: 0800611116

Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155

If it is an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is in danger, call 111.

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