On September 4, 2010, a violent 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city and the hub of the South Island. While there was much damage from that quake, many structures were weakened by the jolt. So when a 6.3 magnitude quake struck on February 22, 2011, the city just fell. About 75% of the central city was either destroyed or is slated to be torn down and replaced. The central zone looked, in early 2015, flat and empty. A few ornate Victorian-era facades have been stabilized with stacks of cement-filled shipping containers bolted to the brickwork, allowing them to stand while plans for rebuilding are worked out. And whole new neighborhoods are springing up, including a shopping mall made entirely out of brightly-colored shipping containers.

Life goes on in Christchurch despite the devastation of the twin earthquakes. A renewed cultural life is blossoming. Artists have been decorating the walls and fences around construction sites, giving the city great splashes of color and vitality. There is so much activity around the city as building lots are cleared for reconstruction, the power shovels bowing and swaying in elaborate dances. It was a Sunday when this photograph was taken on Armagh Street, and the two dancers seemed to both be at rest, the ballerina and the shovel.

Copyright © 2017 by Will Tenney. All rights reserved.
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