When The Earth Opened Up. NZ Earth Quake

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand, commonly known as the Christchurch Basilica is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and seat of the Bishop of Christchurch. It was designed by architect Francis Petre. Today the building, said by some to be based on the 19th-century Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Paris is held to be the finest renaissance style building in New Zealand and the most outstanding of all Petre's many designs. The Cathedral was closed after the 2010 Canterbury earthquake of 4 September 2010. The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake collapsed the two bell towers at the front of the building and destabilized the dome. The dome was removed and the rear of the Cathedral was demolished. On 2 March, Bishop Jones decided that the dome of the Cathedral would be removed after an inspection revealed another large earthquake could topple it completely. An engineer's report showed that the Cathedral's dome was forcing weight-bearing structures outwards and that another earthquake like the magnitude 6.3 on 22 February would topple the dome. The Bishop said that the removal of the dome would begin as soon as possible, but other work had to be completed and equipment assembled before work could begin. The removal of the dome would be done by cranes at a distance from the site because of the risk of collapse. The Bishop also said that no decisions would be made about the future of the <b>...</b>