Disaster officials warn that no amount of planning can prepare the country for the reality of a large-scale earthquake. The South Island Alpine Fault Earthquake Response Forum is in Nelson as part of its awareness-raising road-show, as the region is vulnerable to large quakes in both the south and north islands. Tracy Neal reports.
Tests have revealed that New Zealand's latest building designs will stand up to earthquakes of a greater intensity than the ones that occurred in Christchurch and Kaikōura. Researchers from the University of Auckland and Canterbury, in collaboration with QuakeCoRE and Tongji University in China, built a two-storey concrete building and put it on one of the largest shake tables in the world. All of the building's details were based on existing buildings in Wellington and Christchurch. The project leader is the University of Auckland's Dr Rick Henry. He talks to Guyon Espiner.