For the Mw7.1 September 3, 2010 earthquake in Canterbury, New Zealand, various teams of investigators are evaluating the effects and this earthquake on behalf of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. This site seems to be sort of a clearinghouse for their reports, photos and other info. [Source: . Image: Canterbury, New Zealand Earthquake Clearinghouse]
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Christchurch, New Zealand Earthquake February 2011 News Resources
A deadly magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand on February 22, killing at least 147 and with around 200 still missing. Many buildings have been badly damaged or destroyed and residents also had to deal with large quanities of mud and water which was a result of the liquefaction. The same region was affected by a 7.1 magnitude quake in September of 2010. That earthquake was centered deeper and farther from the metropolitan area so there were fewer casualties and less damage. But many buildings that had recently been repaired, or were even still under repair were devastated once again. Some early reports were calling this earthquake an aftershock of the September earthquake, but maps I’ve seen (at right) show pretty clearly it was a different fault segment that ruptured during this earthquake. I have a collection of links below that might be of interest. My heart goes out to the people of New Zealand affected by this disaster.
Geologic Hazard Photos
The National Geodetic Data Center (NGDC) of NOAA has an online collection of photos of various geologic hazards. Many of the photos are from older sets of 35mm slides that have been digitized. They are free to use provided you credit the photographer and the NGDC as the source. The would be really useful for educators and for powerpoint presentations. The only drawback is that they are in TIF format and some of them could use some retouching. (Photo by University of Colorado, made available by NOAA/NGDC)