By Deanna Harris
Photos have emerged of huge icebergs that carved into Tasman Glacier’s Terminal Lake as a result of today’s 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch.
Passengers aboard two Glacier Explorer boats encountered numerous waves of up to 3.5 metres as around 30 million tonnes of ice collapsed into the Tasman Glacier’s Terminal Lake.
General Manager Tourism for Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Village, Denis Callesen, says the quake caused a major calving from the Basal and Terminal Face of the Glacier and that subsequent waves over the next 30 minutes caused the huge icebergs in the lake to roll, in turn causing more disturbance.
“We have procedures to deal with this type of event and for some time have stayed 800 metres away from the Terminal Face as we suspected it was becoming unstable,” he says.
The calving was the third biggest event in the history of the Terminal Lake, which is now over six kilometres long and two kilometres wide in places, following a huge calving last July.
This is another example of the power of this earthquake which has caused enormous damage across Canterbury.
Prime Minister John Key has told 3 News the current death toll is 65 and it is expected to rise overnight as emergency services reach those still trapped in buildings.
He says there are currently 180 police on the ground in Christchurch as well as 350 military personnel.
A further 250 are arriving overnight and the Government has accepted assistance from Australia and the United States.
“It is hard to put words around this. This is a city that suffered a enormous earthquake six months ago but we all went away and said how lucky we were that it happened at a time when lives were spared. It is the opposite this time,” says Prime Minister John Key.
“It’s hard to describe what was a vibrant city just a few hours ago now has just been brought to its knees.”
3 News
source: newshub archive
