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Living in Clapham Junction, an area that was severely affected, during the London riots in 2011 I would say the opposite was true. Whilst many parts of the city were being trashed, the news struggled to keep up. It was much worse and widespread than they were able to depict.

Video I took at the end of my street whilst a local shop was torched: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4n7uCeV5nU&feature=plcp

FWIW, earthquakes are different to riots. I did the same as you in Christchurch, New Zealand recently after the earthquake there and would agree, the majority of the city was untouched with the epicentre being destroyed.