A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team inside an earthquake-damaged house. One of the ERT members is climbing a staircase covered in rubble from a collapsed interior wall.
The "Lyttelton Review" newsletter for 23 April 2012, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team in the hanger of a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules. The ERT members are travelling to Christchurch to help out in the emergency response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Blankets, tent poles, and other supplies have been stacked in the centre of the hanger.
The first police officer at the scene of the collapsed and burning CTV building has recounted harrowing details of his efforts in the hours after the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch.
A pdf transcript of Stephen Bourke's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Lucy Denham. Transcriber: Lucy Denham.
Police are investigating the origins of a letter which threatened Earthquake Commission staff and referred to the Christchurch mosque shootings. The Earthquake Commission has heightened security at all its offices in response. Renée Walker is EQC's deputy chief executive. She talks to Susie Ferguson.
An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 7 December 2011 entitled, "Inside the Square".
An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 1 March 2011 entitled, "Back home".
A story submitted by Bettina to the QuakeStories website.
Transcript of Leslie Llewellyn James Griffiths's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Summary of oral history interview with Genevieve Togiaso about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Summary of oral history interview with Hana about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes. Pseudonym used to identify interviewee.
The "Lyttelton Review" newsletter for 6 February 2012, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 29 July 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Review" newsletter for 2 July 2012, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 25 February 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
The September 2010 Canterbury and February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and associated aftershocks have shown that the isolator displacement in Christchurch Women's Hospital (Christchurch City's only base-isolated structure) was significantly less than expected. Occupant accounts of the events have also indicated that the accelerations within the hospital superstructure were larger than would usually be expected within a base-isolated structure and that residual low-level shaking lasts for a longer period of time following the strong-motion of an event than for non-isolated structures.
Summary of oral history interview with Jayne Rattray about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Summary of oral history interview with Thérèse Angelo about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Summary of oral history interview with Diana Madgin about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 3 June 2012 entitled, "Grubb Cottage Gets the Warm Fuzzies".
Fire following earthquakes have caused the largest single loss due to earthquakes and in most cases have caused more damage than the quake itself. This problem is regarded very seriously in Japan and in some parts of the United States of America (San Francisco), but is not very seriously considered in other earthquake prone countries, yet the potential for future conflagrations following earthquakes is enormous. Any discussion of post earthquake fire must take into account structural and non-structural damages, initial and spreading fire, wind, water availability, and emergency responses. In this paper we will look at initial fire ignitions, growth and spread and life and property damage. Prevention methods will also be discussed. We will also discuss as examples some case studies: - San Francisco 1989 - Napier 1931 -Christchurch (scenario)
A video of a conversation between John Hamilton, National Controller of the Civil Defence Emergency Response, and Dr Sonia Giovinazzi, Research Fellow at the Department of Civil and Natural Resource Engineering at the University of Canterbury. Hamilton and Giovinazzi discuss the Civil Defence's response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake and the lessons that they learned.The video includes footage from the Ministry of Civil Defence (licenced under Creative Commons Attribute 3.0 New Zealand).
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team working on Tuam Street near the intersection of High Street. In the background are several piles of rubble from earthquake-damaged buildings.
The Christchurch earthquake sequence has been on-going since September 4th 2010. The largest two earthquakes, magnitude (M) 7.1 on September 4th and the M 6.3 on February 22nd 2011 caused immediate and significant damage to the city of Christchurch. As a consequence of the earthquakes, the tourism sector in the Canterbury region has been heavily impacted, with broader impacts being felt throughout the South Island. Resilient Organisations and the University of Canterbury began a series of quantitative investigations into the recovery and response of key business sectors to the earthquakes. The purpose of this study was to build on this work by exploring the outcomes of the earthquakes on the tourism sector, a critical economic driver in the region. Two postal surveys were sent to 719 tourism business managers; the first to businesses in the ‘Impact Zone’ defined as areas that experienced Modified Mercalli intensities greater than 6. The second survey was sent to the remaining businesses throughout the Canterbury region (‘Rest of Canterbury’). Response rates were 46% response for the Impact Zone, and 29% for the Rest of Canterbury. Key findings:
A story submitted by Michael to the QuakeStories website.
A graphic giving findings of an independent review of the New Zealand Fire Service's response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Perimeter Moment resisting steel frames (PMRSFs) are a commonly used seismic resisting system, placed around the perimeter of the building for maximum torsional stiffness. They are typically designed as “strong column weak beam” systems with fixed column bases. When subjected to severe earthquake demand, sufficient to push the beams into the inelastic range, it is expected that plastic hinging at the column bases will occur. However, the response of PMRSF systems to the severe 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake series did not generate column base hinging in systems which exhibited beam yielding.
A pdf transcript of Ina Wit's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Sriparna Saha. Transcriber: Natalie Looyer.
Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and the New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue, breaking through the floor of a building which was severely damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.