Christchurch had a number of earthquakes today. The first big one was 5.8 on the Richter scale just before 2pm. It was 20km north-east of the city and 8km deep. Then this was followed by another big one which was 6.0 on the Richter scale. This was closer to the city and only 6km deep. There was some damage to buildings but most of the tall buildings in the city are in the red zone where people are not allowed to go. About 20 people were taken to hospital but nobody had serious injuries.
There was liquefaction in eastern parts of the city again and some damage to water, sewerage and electricity.
The airport closed for three hours while people checked that there was no damage. All the shopping malls closed to check for damage. They will open again tomorrow. This is the busiest time of year for shopping, just two days before Christmas.
Scientists say that we can expect more earthquakes in the future as the earth settles down after the big earthquake in September 2010. This is bad news for anyone who plans to build a new house or shop. It will be hard to get insurance while there are more after-shocks.
For more about the earthquakes in Christchurch, type “earthquake” in the search box.
Grammar: Comparatives –
The first earthquake was deeper than the second one; the second earthquake was shallower than the first one; the … was not as deep as …; … was not as close as …; was stronger than …
Can you make other comparatives using “–er” and “not as … as”?