June 19, 2013

Christchurch marks 2nd anniversary of deadly quake

BY: AP Staff Writer FEBRUARY 22, 2013 | MODIFIED: FEBRUARY 22, 2013 AT 2:16 AM
Leave a comment
Photo -   People pay their respects during a memorial service on the second anniversary of a deadly earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. Several hundred people gathered for a memorial service in Latimer Square, near where 115 died when a six-story office building collapsed during the magnitude-6.1 quake. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Geoff Sloan) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT
People pay their respects during a memorial service on the second anniversary of a deadly earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. Several hundred people gathered for a memorial service in Latimer Square, near where 115 died when a six-story office building collapsed during the magnitude-6.1 quake. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Geoff Sloan) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — The New Zealand city of Christchurch on Friday marked the second anniversary of an earthquake that destroyed thousands of homes and killed 185 people.

Several hundred people gathered for a memorial service in Latimer Square, near where 115 died when a six-story office building collapsed during the magnitude-6.1 quake. Others placed flowers in road cones or tossed them into the Avon River to commemorate those who died.

Speaking at the event, Prime Minister John Key focused on rebuilding efforts. He said he understands there's frustration at the time it's taking to get homes rebuilt, but that in a few years, Christchurch will be "one of the best and most livable cities in the world."

People around New Zealand observed two minutes' silence at 12:51 p.m., the time the quake struck.

View article comments Leave a comment

More from washingtonexaminer.com

From the Weekly Standard

  • Frack to the Future

    Williston, N.D.

    Read More...
  • Downsize Ike

    The beleaguered Eisenhower Memorial Commission holds its next public gathering later this month, and before its members duck-walk into the hearing room, huddled in a hoplite phalanx against a...

    Read More...
  • The Lesson of Kermit Gosnell

    What was the lesson of the Kermit Gosnell trial? Since the Philadelphia doctor was convicted last month of murdering three born-alive infants, two competing viewpoints have emerged.

    Read More...