Christmas quake adds more buildings to NZ demo list…

Ongoing aftershocks continue to undermine Christchurch buildings amid widespread demolition.

More buildings in the central Christchurch red zone are likely to be demolished because of the December 23 aftershocks.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority engineers have been assessing new damage since then, but it is not known how many more buildings will be lost.

Recovery work in the red zone halted for the holidays at 1pm on December 23, less than an hour before the first of two big aftershocks struck that afternoon, meaning far fewer people were in the central city than usual. Work resumed on January 4.

Cera operational general manager Warwick Isaacs said most of the damage was to unreinforced brick and masonry buildings, including Christ Church Cathedral.

“The latest aftershocks may mean that more buildings are likely to be demolished. However, the damage to buildings was incremental, not significant,” he said.

The facade of the Lichfield St bus exchange had suffered more damage since December 23.

Cera spokeswoman Linda Paterson said the building had been deemed dangerous and was set for partial demolition.

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