An earthquake engineer has told the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission that the intense vertical shaking during the February 2011 earthquake wasn't unique and was similar to events overseas.
The Insurance Council says it can give Cantabrians a guarantee that insurers will go as fast as they can to settle earthquake-related claims.
An engineer who worked for the company that designed the CTV building, has criticised the attitude of his former boss at the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission.
An international expert in earthquake recovery who's touring New Zealand says it's inconceivable to think that a building as magnificent as Christchurch Cathedral won't be rebuilt.
New research shows that if a major earthquake ruptures the Alpine Fault Christchurch is likely to suffer more intense damage than some areas closer to the fault.
The rebuild of the city of Christchurch is almost half way there five years on from the Canterbury earthquake that shattered the city and killed 185.
Oral historian Alison Parr has given voice to the people of Christchurch five years on from the devastating earthquake that shattered their city in her recently released 'Remembering Christchurch: Voices from Decades Past'.
A fruit and vegetable co-operative in Canterbury that started with just 140 members has grown to more than two thousand members in the three years since the region's earthquakes.
The policing of building safety systems is being cut back nationwide. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is reducing its monitoring of the building warrants of fitness scheme that covers 16 crucial safety systems including fire measures. This coincides with it having to do more checks on what councils are doing regarding fences around pools and earthquake-prone buildings. The cutback is despite ministry reviews which show many councils do little to audit the building warrants they issue. An inspector of building safety systems and adviser on warrants, Charlie Loughnan of Canterbury, told our reporter Phil Pennington that less monitoring is not a good idea.
Over the summer on The Weekend we've been talking to recyclers and upcyclers, people who like the Wombles, are making good use of the things that they find, things that the everyday folks leave behind. This is true of Christchurch builder, artist and furniture maker, Tim McGurk. He says he works with whatever junk and materials he can find. Tim crafted several items from the materials salvaged from an earthquake damaged Christchurch house, as part of the Whole House Reuse project. He also made the news when he made a Star Wars inspired X-wing sculpture/lamp out of salvaged rimu.
Some Canterbury homeowners are worried that missed earthquake damage to concrete slabs could result in another big bill for the taxpayer. This comes only weeks after EQC told Checkpoint that the cost of mis-scoped damage or defective repairs following the Canterbury earthquakes could cost up to $1 billion. This includes $450 million for botched repairs, including badly repaired rubble ring foundations, and $300 million for an ex gratia payment to about 1000 over-cap onsold homeowners. But some Canterbury homeowners who bought after the earthquakes - and did their due diligence - are only discovering damage to their concrete slab foundations now. Logan Church reports.
Instead of concentrating on the buildings destroyed in and after the earthquakes in Christchurch's CBD, a new event is enticing people back to explore the heritage buildings that have survived. A new organisation, Te Putahi, is behind the Open Christchurch programme that celebrates the city's surviving architecture, starting with inner-city schools throwing open their doors to the public. Architectural historian and co-founder of Te Putahi, Dr Jessica Halliday tells Lynn Freeman they hope to encourage discussion around well-designed spaces and their impacts on peoples' lives. Open Christchurch starts next Sunday with a tour of The Cathedral Grammar Junior School.
Paul Millar, associate professor at Canterbury University, is concerned that future generations won't have access to the full picture of the Canterbury earthquakes, so he got the CEISMIC Project under way. The project is an archive of earthquake-related digital material and includes resources from the National Library, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, Christchurch City Libraries, Te Papa, NZ On Screen, the Canterbury Museum and the Ngai Tahu Research Centre. Paul says the aim is to document the impact of the disaster and the process of recovery, and make all that material available for free.
PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Finance: What steps is the Government taking to support new jobs and build a productive and competitive economy? Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister responsible for the GCSB: Specifically, have there been staff issues associated with the Government Communications Security Bureau and Dotcom affair brought to his attention by the Government Communications Security Bureau or members of the New Zealand Police, in which such staff members no longer work in their previous capacity for the Government Communications Security Bureau or any government agency; if so, what were the circumstances? DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Further to his answers to the first supplementary question to Oral Question No 1 on 26 September and the first supplementary question to Oral Question No 1 yesterday, does he now know on what date the Government Communications Security Bureau was first told that its surveillance of Kim Dotcom was illegal? ALFRED NGARO to the Minister for Social Development: What recent announcements has she made regarding providing extra financial assistance to grandparents raising grandchildren and other kin-carers? Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: When he said yesterday that with a "relatively high" exchange rate, our exporters "have been sufficiently resilient to be able to grow export volumes and value" did he mean that all export sectors have been growing, and according to Statistics New Zealand, in 2008 dollars what is the percentage change in exports of simply and elaborately transformed manufactured goods from the 2008 to 2012 financial years? METIRIA TUREI to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement, in response to a question about whether he will support my Income Tax (Universalisation of In-work Tax Credit) Amendment Bill that "she wants to give the same millionaires yet more money to raise their kids"? SHANE ARDERN to the Minister for Primary Industries: What progress can he report on the Primary Growth Partnership Initiative? JACINDA ARDERN to the Minister for Social Development: What vulnerabilities were identified in the report prepared by Dimension Data on the security of the Work and Income kiosks? Dr JACKIE BLUE to the Minister of Health: What reports has he received on improving the quality and efficiency of health services? TE URUROA FLAVELL to the Minister of Broadcasting: How does he ensure that the legislative requirement for TVNZ to provide high-quality content that reflects Māori perspectives is reflected in the programming strategy for TV1 and TV2? CHRIS HIPKINS to the Minister of Education: Is she confident that the information she relied upon in deciding on proposals for school closures and mergers in Christchurch was robust and reliable; if so, why? CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: What reports has he received on the availability of insurance cover to support the rebuilding of Canterbury following the seismic events?
After being rocked awake by the massive 7.8 earthquake that hit North Canterbury last November, RNZ reporter Phil Pennington was among the first reporters to be sent to Kaikoura to assess the damage.
The large aftershock rattled nerves in Christchurch last night but it was not the destructive earthquake that had been predicted by self-styled quake forecaster Ken Ring.
Rapid assessment teams are being sent out across quake hit Canterbury with the Earthquake Commission promising that up to 180-thousand homes will be inspected within the next eight weeks.
Royal Commission hearings into the Canterbury earthquakes started in Christchurch today, with a indication that questions will be raised about whether some of those trapped in collapsed buildings could have survived.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury Earthquakes will today begin to examine the failure of the building that's come to symbolise the damage to the central city.
There are suggestions this morning that a Mossad agent working for the Israeli government may have been one of those killed in the Christchurch earthquake.
The Christchurch earthquake was obviously a huge story this year, and for one couple it will always be particularly memorable. Christchurch lawyer Katherine Ewer and her husband David got married that day.
The quake stricken city has come through the latest round of earthquakes relatively unscathed. However there is disappointment that some homes were burgled after residents evacuated. The police say they will investigate.
Public bus tours of Christchurch's red zone will start off with a warning that the passengers could be trapped by an earthquake and may not make it out alive.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission will hear this week that the cost of upgrading the city's unreinforced masonry buildings is more than the buildings are worth.
Some Christchurch schools are so worried about the impact of February's earthquake on their students that they want special consideration to be given in their exam marks.
Cosmo Kentish-Barnes finds out how the rural recovery is going near the epicentre of the Canterbury Earthquake that shook the province in the early hours of September 4th.
The owner of a building that collapsed in last February's Christchurch earthquake - killing four people - has faced questioning about why he did not get recommended strengthening work done.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard that evidence crucial to working out what caused the collapse of the Canterbury Television Building, was destroyed by the firm which oversaw its design.
It's been revealed that the Earthquake Commission knew a wall which crushed two people in Christchurch's February earthquake was at risk of collapsing.
A Christchurch couple has been told they can't use a driveway that no longer leads to any houses because the Earthquake Recovery Authority may need access to it.