The headline news in The Press in Christchurch announced on Monday 27th June 2011 that some Christchurch residents are potentially going to lose NZ$50,000 by accepting the New Zealand Government’s offer to buy their house and land.
Red Zoned Christchurch Homes not Fully Covered by Insurance
Land in the suburban red zone of Christchurch has been subject to severe liquefaction and subsidence and is deemed as too expensive to repair. All homes in this zone will eventually be demolished. An initial 5100 homes have been listed as being in the red zone and residents have nine months to make a decision over their future. If they do not want to accept the government’s offer to buy their house and land at the rateable value as of 2007, the only other option is to sell the land to the government and seek an insurance payout on their homes. The problem has been caused by some insurance companies saying they would not cover the cost of replacing a home that was repairable, even if the owner had full replacement cover.
A number of people with homes in the red zone do not have any insurance on their houses and are waiting to hear what will become of them.
Aftershocks Continue in Christchurch
Christchurch and surrounds continue to be rocked by daily aftershocks. There is absolutely no warning of when these are about to occur and the stronger ones awake residents at night. The Canterbury Quake Live website recorded eight shocks between 11am on Sunday 26th June and 11am on Monday 27th June. The strongest of these was a 4.4 magnitude that struck at 1:20am on the 27th June. A number of residents turned to Facebook to share their experience of the jolt and described it as follows: ‘Felt it in Templeton ... small rumble and shake. Heard a bang just before that like a car door...so still outside and a frost already started.’ ‘Could almost wake the dead!’ ‘Felt that one big time shook the hell out of my place .’ ‘That was huge in south Brighton, now got the shakes again, there's another one!’
The Geonet website which is part of GNS Science puts out monthly forecasts with the number of expected aftershocks and their size. The prediction for the period June 13th to July 12th is an average of 19 quakes between 4.0 and 4.9. The region has already experienced 23. An average of 2 shakes over 5.0 are expected and 3 have already occurred. Canterbury and Christchurch are estimated to have a 30% chance of another earthquake over 6.0 in magnitude before the 14th July 2011.
The ongoing aftershocks mean that access to the inner city is still deemed as too dangerous and the rebuilding process cannot begin in earnest until the ground settles down.
Debbie Roome - Debbie Roome is an award-winning freelance writer, journalist and novelist with over 25 years experience.
