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Images, eqnz.chch.2010

This is St Peters Riccarton. It was damaged in one of the two big Earthquakes to hit Christchurch in September 2010 and February 2011. Its taken a LONG time for work to really get going, but now that it is, they are also upgrading and extending the church with a modern annexe.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Gulls are well known for swooping in and flogging food off your plate or picnic and now they are making a complete menace of themselves in Christchurch's New Regent street. Local businesses are being over-run by the red and black-billed gulls that are nesting on the rooves of buildings along the street, swooping and pooping all over the place. It's not the first time they've invaded, they started breeding in 2019 in an earthquake damaged building on the corner of Armagh and New Regent streets. The problem is both the red and black-billed gulls are protected. Casey Alderson from Belle Cafe spoke to Lisa Owen.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

On today's First Up pod: The fallout from the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury continues - Henry Riley joined First Up from London, an overnight earthquake and the world's worst pollution - Anas Mallick reports from Pakistan, Waikato is our neighbourhood this week - Natalie Akoorie is RNZ's eyes and ears in Hamilton, and Treaty of Waitangi expert Dr Aroha Harris tells Nathan Rarere that Treaty Principles have been around since our founding document was signed. First Up - Voice of the Nathan!

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

The last seven years have seen southern New Zealand a ected by several large and damaging earthquakes: the moment magnitude (MW) 7.8 Dusky Sound earthquake on 15 July 2009, the MW 7.1 Dar eld (Canterbury) earthquake on 4 September 2010, and most notably the MW 6.2 Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011 and the protracted aftershock sequence. In this thesis, we address the postseismic displacement produced by these earthquakes using methods of satellite-based geodetic measurement, known as Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS), and computational modelling.  We observe several ground displacement features in the Canterbury and Fiordland regions during three periods: 1) Following the Dusky Sound earthquake; 2) Following the Dar eld earthquake and prior to the Christchurch earthquake; and 3) Following the Christchurch earthquake until February 2015.  The ground displacement associated with postseismic motion following the Dusky Sound earthquake has been measured by continuous and campaign GPS data acquired in August 2009, in conjunction with Di erential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) observations. We use an afterslip model, estimated by temporal inversion of geodetic data, with combined viscoelastic rebound model to account for the observed spatio-temporal patterns of displacement. The two postseismic processes together induce a signi cant displacement corresponding to principal extensional and contractual strain rates of the order of 10⁻⁷ and 10⁻⁸ yr⁻¹ respectively, across most of the southern South Island.  We also analyse observed postseismic displacement following the Dusky Sound earthquake using a new inversion approach in order to describe afterslip in an elasticviscoelastic medium. We develop a mathematical framework, namely the "Iterative Decoupling of Afterslip and Viscoelastic rebound (IDAV)" method, with which to invert temporally dense and spatially sparse geodetic observations. We examine the IDAV method using both numerical and analytical simulations of Green's functions.  For the post-Dar eld time interval, postseismic signals are measured within approximately one month of the mainshock. The dataset used for the post-Dar eld displacement spans the region surrounding previously unrecognised faults that ruptured during the mainshock. Poroelastic rebound in a multi-layered half-space and dilatancy recovery at shallow depths provide a satisfactory t with the observations.  For the post-Christchurch interval, campaign GPS data acquired in February 2012 to February 2015 in four successive epochs and 66 TerraSAR-X (TSX) SAR acquisitions in descending orbits between March 2011 and May 2014 reveal approximately three years of postseismic displacement. We detect movement away from the satellite of ~ 3 mm/yr in Christchurch and a gradient of displacement of ~ 4 mm/yr across a lineament extending from the westernmost end of the Western Christchurch Fault towards the eastern end of the Greendale East Fault. The postseismic signals following the Christchurch earthquake are mainly accounted for by afterslip models on the subsurface lineament and nearby faults.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

We aim to investigate the role of insurance in business recovery following the devastating Christchurch earthquake in February, 22nd, 2011. We analyze data from two business surveys conducted after the earthquake to examine how insurance affected business operation in the aftermath of the earthquake both in the short-term and longer-term. For the short-term analysis, we use a combination of propensity score matching (PSM) and linear probability model (LPM) to analyze the data. We first estimate the propensity scores for insurance take-up of each firm conditional on the firm’s individual characteristics. Stratification based on the estimated propensity scores is used to match the treated (insured) and the control (uninsured) firms. We then estimate the probability of firms’ continuing operations with a set of control variables to account for the level of damage and disruption caused by the quake in each stratum. We find little evidence of any beneficial effect of insurance coverage on business continuity in the short-run. For the longer-term analysis, we analyze the available survey data using logistic regression. The result suggests that business interruption insurance significantly promotes increased level of long-term productivity for surviving firms following the earthquake.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

At the conclusion of the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes more than 5100 homes had been deemed unsafe for habitation. The land and buildings of these were labelled “red zoned” and are too badly damaged for remediation. These homes have been demolished or are destined for demolition. To assist the red zone population to relocate, central government have offered to ‘buy out’ home owners at the Governmental Value (GV) that was last reviewed in 2007. While generous in the economic context at the time, the area affected was the lowest value land and housing in Christchurch and so there is a capital shortfall between the 2007 property value and the cost of relocating to more expensive properties. This shortfall is made worse by increasing present day values since the earthquakes. Red zone residents have had to relocate to the far North and Western extremities of Christchurch, and some chose to move even further to neighbouring towns or cities. The eastern areas and commercial centres close to the red zone are affected as well. They have lost critical mass which has negatively impacted businesses in the catchments of the Red Zone. This thesis aims to repopulate the suburbs most affected by the abandonment of the red zone houses.  Because of the relative scarcity of sound building sites in the East and to introduce affordability to these houses, an alternative method of development is required than the existing low density suburban model. Smart medium density design will be tested as an affordable and appropriate means of living. Existing knowledge in this field will be reviewed, an analysis of what East Christchurch’s key characteristics are will occur, and an examination of built works and site investigations will also be conducted.  The research finds that at housing densities of 40 units per hectare, the spatial, vehicle, aesthetic needs of East Christchurch can be accommodated. Centralising development is also found to offer better lifestyle choices than the isolated suburbs at the edges of Christchurch, to be more efficient using existing infrastructure, and to place less reliance on cars. Stronger communities are formed from the outset and for a full range of demographics.  Eastern affordable housing options are realised and Christchurch’s ever expanding suburban tendencies are addressed. East Christchurch presently displays a gaping scar of devastated houses that ‘The New Eastside’ provides a bandage and a cure for. Displaced and dispossessed Christchurch residents can be re-housed within a new heart for East Christchurch.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

“One of the most basic and fundamental questions in urban master planning and building regulations is ‘how to secure common access to sun, light and fresh air?” (Stromann-Andersen & Sattrup, 2011).  Daylighting and natural ventilation can have significant benefits in office buildings. Both of these ‘passive’ strategies have been found to reduce artificial lighting and air-conditioning energy consumption by as much as 80% (Ministry for the Environment, 2008); (Brager, et al., 2007). Access to daylight and fresh air can also be credited with improved occupant comfort and health, which can lead to a reduction of employee absenteeism and an increase of productivity (Sustainability Victoria, 2008).  In the rebuild of Christchurch central city, following the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, Cantabrians have expressed a desire for a low-rise, sustainable city, with open spaces and high performance buildings (Christchurch City Council, 2011). With over 80% of the central city being demolished, a unique opportunity to readdress urban form and create a city that provides all buildings with access to daylight and fresh air exists.  But a major barrier to wide-spread adoption of passive buildings in New Zealand is their dependence on void space to deliver daylight and fresh air – void space which could otherwise be valuable built floor space. Currently, urban planning regulations in Christchurch prioritize density, allowing and even encouraging low performance compact buildings.  Considering this issue of density, this thesis aimed to determine which urban form and building design changes would have the greatest effect on building performance in Central City Christchurch.  The research proposed and parametrically tested modifications of the current compact urban form model, as well as passive building design elements. Proposed changes were assessed in three areas: energy consumption, indoor comfort and density. Three computer programs were used: EnergyPlus was the primary tool, simulating energy consumption and thermal comfort. Radiance/Daysim was used to provide robust daylighting calculations and analysis. UrbaWind enabled detailed consideration of the urban wind environment for reliable natural ventilation predictions.  Results found that, through a porous urban form and utilization of daylight and fresh air via simple windows, energy consumption could be reduced as much as 50% in buildings. With automatic modulation of windows and lighting, thermal and visual comfort could be maintained naturally for the majority of the occupied year. Separation of buildings by as little as 2m enabled significant energy improvements while having only minimal impact on individual property and city densities.  Findings indicated that with minor alterations to current urban planning laws, all buildings could have common access to daylight and fresh air, enabling them to operate naturally, increasing energy efficiency and resilience.