The 2010 Canterbury earthquake , a Richter magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2010 , resulted in the closure of the Cathedral to the public indefinitely , to allow for seismic strengthening and restoration . Masses were not celebrated at the Cathedral from the September earthquake , but took place at other nearby locations such as the chapel of the adjacent Music Centre . However , although his Requiem Mass was celebrated at St Mary 's Pro-Cathedral , Bishop Cunneen was buried in the Cathedral . The 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake , a Richter magnitude 6.3 earthquake , caused considerable damage to the Cathedral . The Cathedral administrator , Monsignor Charles Drennan , said that engineers had indicated that it was unlikely the building could be saved . The two bell towers at the front of the building collapsed , bringing much of the front façade down with them , with large blocks of masonry destroying vehicles in front of the building . There was also major cracking evident around the Cathedral 's main dome . Stained glass windows , which had survived the 4 September earthquake and some 4,000 aftershocks , were also " in ruins " . Monsignor Drennan said that workers repairing damage to the building caused by the earlier earthquake , escaped , as did a custodian who was in the Cathedral at the time . Drennan told Kim Hill in a National Radio interview on 5 March that the screams of the children at the nearby school when the earthquake struck at nine minutes to one " will stay with him for a long time " . He and other priests were having lunch when the violent shaking started and they dived under the table from where one of them watched the towers falling from the Cathedral
2010 Canterbury earthquake
2010 Canterbury earthquake
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch