QUAKE: THE BIG CANTERBURY EARTHQUAKE OF 2010

Christchurch press photographer, Dave Wethey was amongst the first on the scene following the big quake in Christchurch on 4 September. He captured the destruction it caused, the initial disbelief that an earthquake of such magnitude could happen in the region and the amazement that no one lost their life during those first dreadful minutes, all through the lense of his camera.

Working with veteran reporter Ian Stuart, Wethey is set to publish his photographic record of the disaster and the days that followed in a new book called Quake: The Big Canterbury Earthquake of 2010 to be released by HarperCollins Publishers on Friday 8 October. RRP $29.99

Both Stuart and Wethey admit that to give a definitive coverage of the earthquake is impossible. Everyone has a story to tell. With strong aftershocks still rolling through expected to continue for weeks and the huge reconstruction job perhaps years from completion, it is clear there is a long way to go and there will be more stories in the making.

Quake does not attempt to explain why or how it happened. Rather, it is a visual time capsule which captures the altered face of a city, and offers a glimpse of a community as it pulls together during a time of great trauma and chaos. With a foreword by Christchurch Mayor, Bob Parker, over 200 colour photographs and a brief history of New Zealand earthquakes, Quake will be book that stands as a poignant reminder to all New Zealanders of the harsh realities of living in a country on the edge of a continental plate, and of the courage and spirit displayed by those who lost homes, incomes and treasured possessions in the most recent shake.

HarperCollins Publishers, along with the author and the photographer of Quake, and many of the book retailers who will sell the book, will donate a percentage of the proceeds to the relief fund set up to help the people of Canterbury restore some order to their lives.

Copyright on all photos -
©Quake: The Big Canterbury Earthquake of 2010 by Ian Stuart

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)
Photographs by David Wethey