
Shell shocked residents still picking up the pieces in one of the worst earthquake affected parts of Canterbury, say a looming rates rise to pay for repairs will cripple them.
A Christchurch man says EQC misled him about the earthquake damage to his home and deliberately under-scoped the repairs that were needed. David Townshend said his warnings were ignored.
This study analyses the Earthquake Commission’s (EQC) insurance claims database to investigate the influence of seismic intensity and property damage resulting from the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) on the repair costs and claim settlement duration for residential buildings. Firstly, the ratio of building repair cost to its replacement cost was expressed as a Building Loss Ratio (BLR), which was further extended to Regional Loss Ratio (RLR) for greater Christchurch by multiplying the average of all building loss ratios with the proportion of building stock that lodged an insurance claim. Secondly, the total time required to settle the claim and the time taken to complete each phase of the claim settlement process were obtained. Based on the database, the regional loss ratio for greater Christchurch for three events producing shakings of intensities 6, 7, and 8 on the modified Mercalli intensity scale were 0.013, 0.066, and 0.171, respectively. Furthermore, small (less than NZD15,000), medium (between NZD15,000 and NZD100,000), and large (more than NZD100,000) claims took 0.35-0.55, 1.95-2.45, and 3.35-3.85 years to settle regardless of the building’s construction period and earthquake intensities. The number of claims was also disaggregated by various building characteristics to evaluate their relative contribution to the damage and repair costs.
Christchurch people who have had to battle insurance companies over the repair or rebuild of earthquake damaged homes are welcoming the Labour party's idea of an earthquake court to settle disputes.
Red stickered building means no access, and the building may be condemned if it cannot be repaired; aftermath of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit Christchurch on 4 September 2010.
Christchurch's Blessed Sacrament Cathedral was set to be repaired following the Canterbury earthquakes, but the new Bishop Paul Martin has decided it's too expensive and has decided to rebuild closer to the city centre.
Lawrence Roberts' blog for those living in Cowlishaw Street, Chaddesden Lane, Patten Street, Retreat Road and close by. Includes information and news on earthquake assessment, repairs/rebuilding and related matters; and photo gallery.
The Earthquake Commission has been forced into an embarrassing admission that the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme have been accidentally emailed to the wrong address.
A photograph captioned, "After the September earthquake, it was more a simple case of something gets broken and it gets repaired. Then came February, and June as well, and suddenly it's just not so straightforward anymore".
A project manager for a company doing home repairs in the Christchurch earthquake rebuild says it is highly likely as many as 60-thousand people have been exposed to potentially lethal asbestos fibres.
Despite Government pressure on the Christchurch City Council to sell off some of its assets to help fund its 40% share of the city's earthquake repairs, the council has instead decided to raise rates, and rents.
The Earthquake Commission has admitted its privacy breach was almost 10 times worse than it had said, with the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme being emailed out.
The Earthquake Commission has admitted the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme have been accidentally emailed to the wrong place, not just the almost 10 thousand it said on Friday
Almost 200 workers in Christchurch have lost their jobs with the closure of the Canterbury Spinners Plant - which the owners say was so badly damaged in last month's earthquake that it is beyond repair.
More than four years after earthquakes first damaged home in Christchurch, hundreds of Canterbury homeowners are finding out that they may have to wait another two years before their damaged homes are repaired.
During recent earthquake repairs at a residential property on well-known Sumner Road in Lyttelton, our archaeologists uncovered a small assemblage of artefacts that represented everyday Victorian household items. At first glance these appeared a somewhat ordinary – but when Lydia … Continue readi...
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Holy Trinity Church on Winchester Street in Lyttelton. The crack in the interior wall of the church by stained glass window will cost at least one million to repair".
20130808_2293_1D3-40 New Brighton bridge Still awaiting a repair, but with so many bridges closed or partially closed we are lucky this one had what maybe minor damage. #4074
Repairs being carried out on this restaurant (converted from a church) at the Hereford Street / Manchester Street intersection;aftermath of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Christchurch on Saturday 4 September 2010.
This beautiful building on Madras Street is red stickered and may be condemned if the structural damage it suffered in the magnitude 7,1 earthquake on Saturday 4 September 2010 cannot be repaired.
This beautiful building on Madras Street is red stickered and may be condemned if the structural damage it suffered in the magnitude 7,1 earthquake on Saturday 4 September 2010 cannot be repaired.
Yellow stickered building means restricted access, and the building will need to be repaired and certified fit for use; aftermath of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit Christchurch on 4 September 2010.
This beautiful building on Madras Street is red stickered and may be condemned if the structural damage it suffered in the magnitude 7,1 earthquake on Saturday 4 September 2010 cannot be repaired.
In order to provide information related to seismic vulnerability of non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings, and as a complementary investigation on innovative feasible retrofit solutions developed in the past six years at the University of Canterbury on pre-19170 reinforced concrete buildings, a frame building representative of older construction practice was tested on the shake table. The specimen, 1/2.5 scale, consists of two 3-storey 2-bay asymmetric frames in parallel, one interior and one exterior, jointed together by transverse beams and floor slabs. The as-built (benchmark) specimen was first tested under increasing ground motion amplitudes using records from Loma Prieta Earthquake (California, 1989) and suffered significant damage at the upper floor, most of it due to lap splices failure. As a consequence, in a second stage, the specimen was repaired and modified by removing the concrete in the lap splice region, welding the column longitudinal bars, replacing the removed concrete with structural mortar, and injecting cracks with epoxy resin. The modified as-built specimen was then tested using data recorded during Darfield (New Zealand, 2010) and Maule (Chile, 2010) Earthquakes, with whom the specimen showed remarkably different responses attributed to the main variation in frequency content and duration. In this contribution, the seismic performance of the three series of experiments are presented and compared.
Text reads 'Solution to Christchurch sewage problems?...' A woman, with a roll of toilet paper in her hand, climbs a ladder to a toilet that is positioned on a sewage pipe high above the ground. There are further toilets at intervals on the pipe. Her husband stands in the garden and observes that it is 'Easy to access and easy to repair'. Context - the Christchurch earthquakes and continuing aftershocks have done huge damage to sewage infrastructures which suggests having the pipes above ground as a solution. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Furniture maker Bertram Rush and his building survived the earthquake. He's still open, hearing from people with damaged cabinets, and has been busy helping a customer to repair his home".
The title reads 'Future Christchurch CBD?...' Two people stare at numerous large featureless blocks across the Avon River. One says 'Those buildings look pretty ugly' and the other points out that they are 'just the piles'. Context: The Christchurch City Council is moving to impose urban-design etiquette and avert architectural mistakes such as clashing with the neighbours, glaring corporate colours and the long, blank walls common to most suburban shopping malls. The proposed rules will be overseen by an urban-design panel of four experts drawn from a pool of 12 architects, designers, planners and valuers. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
While it's going to take several years and millions of dollars to repair earthquake damage, the Christchurch Arts Centre can count its lucky stars and look ahead to making the historic building better and stronger.
A photograph of a room in the Diabetes Centre which has been prepared for repairs. The moveable stacks and counter have been covered in plastic sheeting and a tarpaulin has been draped over the carpet.
A photograph of a room in the Diabetes Centre which has been prepared for repairs. The furniture has been stacked one side of the room and plastic sheeting has been used to cover the carpet.