This is the first of several posts over the next few days showing rockfall and landslide damage associated with the Christchurch earthquakes. The other posts in this series are as follows:

Part one: boulder damage to a house

Part two: evil dancing rocks

Part three: topographic amplification at the cliff tops

Part four: large-scale cliff collapses

Part five: landslides that involve sliding

This post shows the impact of a large boulder on a house.

This is the (beautiful) house in question – the cliffs that were the source of the boulder can be seen in the background. Note the distance that the rock has travelled:

The boulder bounced down the hill, leaving this amazing impact mark on the ground (in the foreground). Note the distance from the impact point to the hole in the house that the rock punched on impact. The ground between the two is undamaged:

The boulder landed in the garage, smashing the concrete floor (now covered in timber debris), before bouncing up to smash a hole in the roof:

It didn’t manage to bounce high enough to smash through the roof, and so finally came to rest in the passageway into the house:

And this is where it remains today.

Comments welcome – and there are many more images to come over the next few days. Next up will be some images of the impact of boulders on trees that were in their way. These are equally as dramatic as the ones in this post.

The other posts in this series are as follows:

Part one: boulder damage to a house

Part two: evil dancing rocks

Part three: topographic amplification at the cliff tops

Part four: large-scale cliff collapses

Part five: landslides that involve sliding