EQC settles with homeowner on quake's 7th anniversary
Audio, Radio New Zealand
A Canterbury woman has finally settled an insurance claim seven years to the day her family home was damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
A Canterbury woman has finally settled an insurance claim seven years to the day her family home was damaged in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
It all started two years ago today at 4:36 in the morning, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook Canterbury.
The Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission has heard that a breakdown in communication between structural engineers, a property manager and owner led the tenants of a building to wrongly assume their shop was safe.
Christchurch moteliers say this has been the hardest winter since the Canterbury earthquakes - and they are blaming both AirBnB and a lack of events. RNZ Christchurch reporter Logan Church spoke with Comfort Inn motel owner, Bob Cringle, about the state of the sector.
The Earthquake Commission has just two days to settle all of the Canterbury earthquake claims worth less than 15-thousand-dollars.
Three years after the earthquakes robbed Christchurch of its chance to host England during the Rugby World Cup, the tourists finally made it onto a Canterbury field.
Christchurch MPs - Labour's Lianne Dalziel and National's Amy Adams - say it's not fair for seat-of-the-pants post-quake red/yellow and green sticker assessments to be formally recorded forever. They say the assessments were hastily done and inconsistent. But the Christchurch City Council says its required to do so under the provisions of the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act.
Residents in one of the streets worst affected by the Canterbury earthquake say they're still in the dark about their future.
A property manager has been questioned at the Royal Commission investigating the Canterbury earthquakes about why he didn't tell tenants the building they worked in was unsafe.
Demolition companies and building owners in central Christchurch hope efforts by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority will speed up the city's rebuild after it's been languishing for weeks.
Canterbury residents who haven't seen hide nor hair of a Earthquake Commission inspector have been told they might need to make a fresh claim to get noticed.
A temporary village has opened in the small Canterbury town of Waiau to help residents who lost their homes in the Kaikoura earthquake.
Earthquakes disrupted schooling in Canterbury this year, but the region's teenagers can rest assured they will not be rattled by unexpected references to quakes in this year's NCEA and Scholarship exams.
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.
It was just a little under an hour and a half ago, two years today, that a seven-point-one magnitude earthquake shook Canterbury.
The warnings, or lack of them from the government's scientists about the likely size of aftershocks following the first Canterbury earthquake have been a focus of the Royal Commission into the quakes.
Shares in the insurance company, Tower, have plunged close to 20 percent today after it said its profits will likely fall more than 16-million dollars because of Canterbury earthquake claims.
In her valedictory speech to Parliament, the Christchurch East MP Lianne Dalziel said she would not be leaving Parliament if not for the Canterbury earthquakes.
The smaller buildings that collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake, killing those in them as well as passers by, will be the focus of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission when hearings resume today
People who've bought houses in Canterbury since the September 2010 earthquake and are still battling with insurance companies over repairs, have been told that if they want to take the matter to court, today is their last chance. Earthquake claims specialist Lisa Taylor from the law firm Anthony Harper joins us.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard evidence that a heritage order on a row of dangerous buildings may have contributed to the deaths of a dozen people in the February quake.
Two separate chances to inspect the Canterbury Television building were missed before the February earthquake saw it pancake to the ground last year, killing 115 people.
A very large earthquake in the central North Island could trigger a big lahar from Mt Ruapehu. In the recent past it's been eruptions that have led to lahars on the mountain. But scientists from Canterbury University have checking what else might cause cause mud and debris to spew out of the crater lake.
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.
Matthew McEachen should have had most of his life ahead of him when he died on February 22, 2011. The 25-year-old was a talented artist and designer, putting his skills to good use at the Southern Ink tattoo shop on Colombo St. But when the earthquake struck, Bruce, Jeanette and Sarah McEachen lost their much-loved son and older brother. Ten years on, Matti's legacy lives on. Checkpoint reporter Nick Truebridge and cameraman Nate McKinnon with his story.
The insurance company, Tower, has strongly criticised the time it's taking to settle Canterbury earthquake claims and says the insurance system for handling such disasters is broken.
Kaiapoi, just north of Christchurch, has unveiled a bold new plan for the parts of the town wiped off the map in the Canterbury earthquakes. The plan proposes having house boats on the river that runs through the town, there'll be a place for campervans to park up and a covered sports facility is on the cards.
It's been revealed that not a single one of New Zealand's 315 police buildings constructed before 2011 have had a full earthquake safety check. Canterbury's district health buildings and a central Wellington cinema are among other major structures needing checks. Phil Pennington joins us with the details.
Overlapping claims and general confusion are delaying money payable to New Zealand for damage from the Canterbury earthquakes. The money involved is payable through reinsurance schemes taken out by insurance companies in this country, with firms overseas.
The Boss is back - and he and his band, the E Street band, are going to Christchurch on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Canterbury earthquake this summer.