Christchurch, New Zealand, shattered by a 2011 earthquake, offers an urgent lesson for California
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - The high-rise towers that served as landmarks of this city are mostly gone. Blocks where historic brick buildings once stood are now vacant. At the city's center, Christ Church Cathedral remains in ruins.
The workday bustle in one of New Zealand's leading commercial centers, abandoned by many employers, has slowed. A once-steady stream of tourists dramatically slimmed.
Eight years ago, a huge earthquake ruptured directly under Christchurch, killing 185 people. Full recovery remains elusive.
The city offers an urgent lesson to California, whose major cities - situated along seismic faults - face similar threats.
A reminder of that came July 5, when the largest earthquake to hit California in two decades shook the Ridgecrest area. Had it been centered under Los Angeles, the destruction would have easily dwarfed what happened in Christchurch.
Since that magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit New Zealand on Feb. 22, 2011, the recovery has been painfully slow. The physical, economic and psychological aftershocks continue.
- The quake redrew the geography of Christchurch. Downtown is now flatter and smaller, with 1,500 buildings in the Central Business District having been demolished. Some businesses left for the suburbs and never came back. Officials also bought and demolished 8,000 houses along rivers, the coast and in the hills and restricted those areas from future development.
- In addition to commerce moving out of the city center, projects intended to restore Christchurch - a convention center, a recreation center, a sports stadium - have not been completed. Some are years away from becoming a reality.
- Earthquake-related psychological distress has been widespread, with post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression reported years after the shaking.
"We always used to say, 'Recovery is getting back to normal life.' The thing is, after an event like this, normal life has changed, and it's never going to
