WELLINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel on Sunday made an apology to families of the 2011 deadly earthquake victims.
Christchurch held a grand memorial ceremony on Saturday in memory of the 185 victims spanning more than 20 nationalities, including 24 Chinese students, in the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the city on Feb. 22, 2011.
Dalziel made a formal apology to the families who lost their loved ones or were seriously injured in the earthquake due to the collapse of the CTV building and other constructions. A long-time inquiry shows building designers, engineers and the Christchurch City Council were all responsible for the construction failure.
Dalziel, who have been mayor since 2013, met privately with the families in the Christchurch Arts Center to make the formal apology.
In a letter to families, Dalziel said: "I have wanted to make this formal apology for a long time. I am acutely aware of the time it has taken to get to this point," according to local media.
However, victim families' representatives said they need more than an apology, as they demand "justice and accountability".
The Christchurch City Council has made changes in new building standards and council processes of inspecting and approving building permits, in order to prevent it happening again.
International rescue teams arrived within 48 hours after the Feb. 22, 2011 quake. The Chinese government dispatched a 10-person search and rescue team which arrived 36 hours after the quake.
The earthquake and aftershocks caused substantial destruction to Christchurch in 2011. Statistics showed more than 1,200 commercial buildings were destroyed, and around 90 percent of residential houses were damaged to varying degrees. Then-Prime Minister John Key described the disaster as "New Zealand's darkest day".
It is estimated that the total cost for Christchurch's reconstruction will exceed 40 billion New Zealand dollars (25.4 billion U.S. dollars), which equals approximately 10 percent of New Zealand's GDP.
