Smaller than the quake a year before it, but shallow and right under the city. Liquefaction turned solid ground to slurry and swallowed streets whole.
Rumble is a beautifully dark, free earthquake tracker for iPhone — live USGS data and quiet alerts when it matters near you.
DownloadThe 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck on February 21, 2011, registering magnitude 6.1 (moment magnitude, Mw).
Its epicenter was located near 26.14°S, 178.39°E, at a depth of about 558 km — a deep earthquake. Deep earthquakes are felt across a wide region but are usually less destructive at the surface than shallow ones of the same size.
An estimated 185 people were killed.