Quake aftermath | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Christchurch's infrastructure is finding its feet today. The port in Lyttelton is back in full operation following an following an extensive assessment by structural engineers.

All suburban malls in the city are open for business, however, some shops are inside are closed due to damage.

Earlier reports that a floor collapsed in Westfield Riccarton have been found to be in correct.

Movieland at The Hub Hornby is also open today. It is understood to be the only cinema operating at present.

Orana Wildlife Park has also reopened today following the death of a lemur during Saturday's quake.

Gidro, a 10-year-old black-and-white ruffed lemur, drowned as a result of the Christchurch earthquake at Orana Wildlife Park. Animal Collection Manager, Ian Adams, says staff will miss Gidro dearly: "He was a fantastic animal to work with, a really nice natured lemur and a favourite amongst staff.  Many visitors will have had the opportunity to meet him up close and others would have seen him interact with staff at the daily feed presentation."

"We are gutted at the loss of Gidro but are also very thankful that all other animals were unharmed. That is remarkable considering the magnitude of the earthquake and the fact that animals do not generally react well to such disasters. The subsequent aftershocks have had virtually no impact on the animals" said Mr Adams.

However, native fauna keepers remain very concerned about a kiwi egg that is due to hatch soon. "We lost power for almost four hours and that poor little egg was rocked about inside its incubator. Today we saw movement in the egg so we are hopeful that the chick will hatch - but it will be a miracle if the chick is all right," says Tara Atkinson, head keeper of native fauna. 

There is no structural damage to the wildlife park, which remained closed over the weekend.

Lyttelton Port of Christchurch chief executive Peter Davie said the port sustained significant damage from Saturday morning's 7.1 magnitude earthquake, centered in Darfield - about 40kms from the port.

The cost to repair the damage to the port is likely to be tens of millions of dollars, he said.
Following the earthquake LPC was able to resume operation of core services on Saturday. This required a significant amount of hard work from the entire LPC staff, he said.
The container terminal was able to resume full cargo operation at 1500 Sunday and there have been limited effects on forecasted shipping movements.
LPC is working with all parties to ensure the effects on shipping and cargo transfer through the port are as minimal as possible.
LPC's engineering and maintenance staff will continue to access the damage to infrastructure, power supply and other services.
"Our thoughts are with the families of Lyttelton and all of Canterbury during this difficult time," Mr Davie said.