People who lived near rivers on Sept 4th, the day of the 7.1 earthquake in Christchurch, know what liquefaction is. Listen to Sept 16th 2010 to find out about liquefaction. After Sept 4th, people cleared up 30,000 tonnes of sand and mud mixed with water from around houses. This time there is probably five times that amount. It is wet, sticky, smelly and very hard to remove. When it dries it turns to dust which gets into eyes, mouths and lungs.
Liquefaction causes cracks in the ground as the land spreads. It lifts water and sewerage pipes out the ground. It damages underground power lines. It causes cracks in the foundations of houses and it can make buildings slide sideways. Christchurch has two rivers and many small streams running through it. Most people who live on the flat land are near a river or stream where the soil is sandy. It is not surprising that so many people had liquefaction after this earthquake.
Many volunteers are helping to remove the mud. A student “army” of about 800 university and polytech students come each day with spades and wheelbarrows to help local people. Now a “farmy army” of young farmers have brought 20 diggers and loaders to remove piles of mud. More volunteers are coming from the North Island. They are told to bring a sleeping bag and gumboots. They can sleep at local rugby club buildings.
Grammar Questions
Look at the way to show cause and effect in English. Can you use “cause” and “make” in a good sentence? What other active verbs show the effect of liquefaction?
If there is 150,000 tonnes of mud from liquefaction after the February earthquake, we say “5 times that amount” or “5 times as much”. If it is 60,000 tonnes, we say “double the amount” or “twice as much”. Can you make sentences with other amounts?
Note: It is surprising / people are surprised. We have many adjectives like this: interesting / interested; astonishing / astonished; amazing / amazed; tiring / tired. Do you know of other adjectives like this? Can you make sentences?
Discussion question
Why do people volunteer to do such hard work?