1 August 2011
Images of landslides from the Christchurch earthquakes part 1: boulder damage to a house
Posted by Dave Petley
This is the first of several posts over the next few days showing rockfall and landslide damage associated with the Christchurch earthquakes. The other posts in this series are as follows:
Part one: boulder damage to a house
Part three: topographic amplification at the cliff tops
Part four: large-scale cliff collapses
Part five: landslides that involve sliding
This post shows the impact of a large boulder on a house.
This is the (beautiful) house in question – the cliffs that were the source of the boulder can be seen in the background. Note the distance that the rock has travelled:
The boulder bounced down the hill, leaving this amazing impact mark on the ground (in the foreground). Note the distance from the impact point to the hole in the house that the rock punched on impact. The ground between the two is undamaged:
The boulder landed in the garage, smashing the concrete floor (now covered in timber debris), before bouncing up to smash a hole in the roof:
It didn’t manage to bounce high enough to smash through the roof, and so finally came to rest in the passageway into the house:
And this is where it remains today.
Comments welcome – and there are many more images to come over the next few days. Next up will be some images of the impact of boulders on trees that were in their way. These are equally as dramatic as the ones in this post.
The other posts in this series are as follows:
Part one: boulder damage to a house
Part three: topographic amplification at the cliff tops
Part four: large-scale cliff collapses
Part five: landslides that involve sliding
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
That is amazing Dave. Am curious as to how the Cathedral is looking. Is there any hope of saving it??
Impressive. I just remember that this boulder (“Rocky”) was for sale: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/4726961/Christchurch-earthquake-boulder-for-sale
That is indeed Rocky.
Makes me think of the scene at the beginning of Sexy Beast – Ray Winstone sunbathing in his yellow budgie smugglers when down the Spanish hillside comes a massive boulder ….
interesting the impact hole and distance from house it is due to ground hardness? and elastic rebound? the place were dangerous also without quake
There is also this boulder travelling through a house: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/where-a-deathly-silence-can-bring-the-hope-of-life/story-e6freuy9-1226011651165
and a vidoe about the boulder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSZ1z1-WkJ8&feature=related
[…] Part One […]
[…] Petley of The Landslide Blog has a series of posts sharing photos and notes from field work in Christchurch, New Zealand area investigating the […]
This is actually my house. The boulders name is Rocky, he is well known in NZ and even has his own Facebook page.
Would be nice to live back there again one day but it seems unlikely.
[…] Highly mobile boulders are one of the most extraordinary and hazardous landslide phenomena. In recent years, mobile phone footage has captured a number of these events, such as the famous boulder at Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Large earthquakes have also illustrated the impacts of these highly mobile rocks, with a great example being Rocky after the Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand. […]