Minute's silence to mark quake anniversary

Details have been released of the civic service that will mark the 9th anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake that claimed 185 lives.

The service has been developed with the Quake Families Trust and will take place on the north bank of Oi Manawa – the Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial – at 12.30pm on Saturday 22 February.

All are welcome to attend.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel will offer words of welcome at the start of the service and then the names of the 185 people who lost their lives in the earthquake will be read in the order they appear on the Memorial Wall.

At 12.51pm – the exact time the earthquake struck – a minute of silence will be observed. At the end of the minute’s silence, a poem will be read by members of the Quake Families Trust.

Leopard Coachlines Canterbury Brass will then perform Elgar’s Nimrod ahead of a closing karakia and blessing.

At the end of the service people will be invited to cross to the south side of the earthquake memorial and pay their respects at the Memorial Wall. People are welcome to bring flowers and drop them in the Avon as they cross the bridge to create a ‘river of flowers’.

Those planning to attend the service should arrive at the memorial site, on the corner of Montreal Street and Cambridge Terrace, by 12.20pm. The City Promenade provides pedestrians and cyclists with easy access to the service. Temporary cycle stands will be placed near the service on Cambridge Terrace.

Limited seating will be provided for invited guests and those unable to stand for the duration of the service.

For those who cannot attend, the service will be live-streamed.