Was there an earthquake in

Earthquakes happen nearly daily around the globe. Some are devastating, killing people and causing tsunamis, whilst others are of only scientific interest. With this article and its combination of news feeds, maps and background information I aim at keeping readers informed on where recent earthquakes have happened, what the damage was plus some advice on how to check on your friends and family if you suspect that an earthquake occurred where they are living.

On February 22nd 2011, 12:51 pm (local time) Christchurch (New Zealand) was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richer scale. It was named the Canterbury earthquake because it struck the region known as 'Canterbury' on New Zealand's south island.The epicenter is reported to have been 3 miles / 5 kilometers below of the town of Lyttelton. Due to the timing and location the earthquake caused considerable damage and loss of over 65 lives. Some scientists consider it still an aftershock of the earthquake that occurred in the same location in 2010, whilst others consider it a completely different event. Christchurch is New Zealand second largest town and damages have affected the city center (causing, for example, the spire of Christchurch cathedral to collapse) and the suburbs. The more serious damage of this earthquake (compared to the one in 2010) is attributed to

• The epicenter being closer to the surface.
• The earthquake occurred during daytime, when many people were on the roads / streets.
• Buildings and other constructions (bridges) were weakened / damaged by the previous earthquake.
• No Tsunami warning issued so far (22nd February 2010), please check local news carefully for warnings if you life in this area.
  

For more information about the recent New Zealand earthquake, please refer to the blue resources box in the top right corner.

Out of personal experience I can say that contacting somebody, whom you suspect to be in a catastrophe area is much more difficult then them letting contact you. Here my tips:

• Bad news travel fast. If you hear nothing, it is most certainly because there is nothing negative to report. One thing, after triage and first aid, that emergency services do first is to put up a list of casualties, if your friend or family member appears on no such list, chances are good that s/he is well.
• Text, don't phone! In emergency situations mobile and cell hone networks tend to get overloaded and stop to deliver calls. If you send a text instead, chances are much higher that it gets delivered due to the fact that texts are hold in queue, calls not.
• To stay up to date with earthquake info, consider to use social media sites such as Twitter or Google News.