The earthquake swarm that has struck Canterbury, New Zealand from September 2010 has led to widespread destruction and loss of life in the city of Christchurch. In response to this the New Zealand government convened a Royal Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908. The terms of reference for this enquiry were wide ranging, and included inquiry into legal and best-practice requirements for earthquake-prone buildings and associated risk management strategies. The Commission produced a final report on earthquake-prone buildings and recommendations which was made public on the 7th December 2012. Also on the 7th of December 2012 the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) released a Consultation Document that includes many of the recommendations put forward by the Royal Commission. This paper examines the evidence presented to the Royal Commission and reviews their recommendations and those of MBIE in relation to the management of earthquake-prone buildings. An analysis of the likely impacts of the recommendations and proposals on both the property market and society in general is also undertaken.
This study sought to investigate employee burnout within a post-disaster context by exploring teachers’ burnout perceptions and workplace attitudes in the aftermath of the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquakes. The study hypothesised that burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion and cynicism) would be related with the extent to which individuals and schools were impacted by the earthquakes, and with the quality of school support for staff and students (i.e., personal disaster impact, school disaster impact and school responsiveness to the disaster), with perceptions of role conflict and role overload, and with turnover intentions. Additionally, a Teacher Burnout Model was proposed whereby emotional exhaustion and cynicism were hypothesised to mediate the relationships between the independent variables (i.e., the disaster-related and role-related variables) and turnover intentions. 125 primary, intermediate and secondary school teachers from the city of Christchurch completed an online survey. Results revealed that high role overload, high role conflict, high school disaster impact, and schools’ ineffective disaster coping responses, were associated with increased levels of emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Although greater impact of earthquakes on teachers’ personal lives was related to higher levels of emotional exhaustion, results revealed a non-significant relationship between personal disaster impact and cynicism. In the Teacher Burnout Model, the relationships between both role stress variables and turnover intentions were mediated by perceptions of emotional exhaustion. This study contributes novel findings to the burnout literature, and provides implications for schools and organisations operating within a disaster context.
Disaster recovery is significantly affected by funding availability. The timeliness and quality of recovery activities are not only impacted by the extent of the funding but also the mechanisms with which funding is prioritised, allocated and delivered. This research addresses the impact of funding mechanisms on the effectiveness and efficiency of post-disaster demolition and debris management programmes. A qualitative assessment of the impacts on recovery of different funding sources and mechanisms was carried out, using the 2010 Canterbury Earthquake as well as other recent international events as case studies. The impacts assessed include: timeliness, completeness, environmental, economic and social impacts. Of the case studies investigated, the Canterbury Earthquake was the only disaster response to rely solely on a privatised approach to insurance for debris management. Due to the low level of resident displacement and low level of hazard in the waste, this was a satisfactory approach, though not ideal. This approach has led to greater organisational complexity and delays. For many other events, the potential community wide impacts caused by the prolonged presence of disaster debris means that publicly funded and centrally facilitated programmes appear to be the most common and effective method of managing disaster waste.
The purpose of this study is to analyse the felt earthquake impacts, resilience and recovery of organizations in Canterbury by comparing three business sectors (accommodation/food services, Education/Training and Manufacturing). A survey of the three sectors in 2013 of Canterbury organizations impacted by the earthquakes revealed significant differences between the three sectors on felt earthquake impacts and resilience. On recovery and mitigation factors, the accommodation/food services sector is not significantly different from the other two sectors. Overall, the survey results presented here indicate that the Accommodation/Food Services sector was the least impacted by the earthquakes in comparison to the Education/Training and Manufacturing sectors. Implications for post-disaster management and recovery of the accommodation sector are suggested.
Rod discusses the business and economic impacts of the Canterbury earthquake.
A pdf transcript of Jeff Davies's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. The interview was conducted via Zoom. Interviewer: Joshua Black. Transcriber: Lauren Millar.
A pdf transcript of John's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Samuel Hope. Transcriber: Natalie Looyer.
A pdf transcript of Julie's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Rosemary Du Plessis. Transcriber: Natalie Looyer.
A pdf transcript of Sarah Shaw's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Samuel Hope. Transcriber: Samuel Hope.
The impact of the Canterbury Earthquake on insurance and the EQC's finances.
A story submitted by Maria to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Josine Giacometti to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Trisha Gwatkin to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Margaret Jefferies to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Pat to the QuakeStories website.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 3 October 2012 entitled, "Hopeful Hotel".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 2 September 2012 entitled, "Lingering in Lyttelton".
A story submitted by Olivia to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Madelaine Weiss to the QuakeStories website.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 25 March 2011 entitled, "Day 32, 6am - Blues in the red zone".
A story submitted by Sue Stopford to the QuakeStories website.
Transcript of Lorraine Savory's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
A news item titled, "Recovery Needs Business to Open", published on the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre's website on Sunday, 30 October 2011.
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 31 May 2013 entitled, "One thousand days....".
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 13 June 2013 entitled, "BREADS...".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's Blog for 10 July 2014 entitled, "Convention Concept".
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 09 June 2013 entitled, "Outer Spaces".
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 2 August 2011 entitled, "New Light".
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 24 September 2015 entitled, "Sociology of the City {Part 4(4) Sociology 355}".The entry was downloaded on 2 November 2016.
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 22 August 2011 entitled, "Would you like tears with your breakfast???".