12 Feb 2021

Fragments: First-hand accounts of the February 2011 Earthquake

From Fragments, 2:00 pm on 12 February 2021
Christchurch earthquake

People walk through debris in the aftermath of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch on February 22, 2011. Photo: AFP

At 12.51 pm on February 22, 2011 a 6.3 earthquake shook Christchurch.

185 people died.

Thousands were injured.

'Fragments' presenter and producer Katy Gosset.

'Fragments' presenter and producer Katy Gosset. Photo: RNZ

Everyone who was in Christchurch that day has a story to tell. Some have probably told their stories many times.

In Fragments: First-hand accounts of the February 2011 earthquake, RNZ'S Katy Gosset brings together many of these different, but overlapping stories.

These interviews, originally recorded by Christchurch documentary producers, Sandra Close and Julie Hutton in the months immediately after the devastating 6.3 magnitude quake, as a means of securing a valuable archival record for the people of Canterbury, take us back there as witnesses in their own words relive a devastating day

Ten years have passed. How do these stories end? RNZ interviews some of those who were there to find out what's happened for them in the last decade.

'Fragments: First-hand accounts of the February 2011 Earthquake’ is available from 22 February on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts – all the podcast apps - and of course at RNZ.co.nz

Produced and presented by Katy Gosset. Co-produced by Justin Gregory.