An entry from Deborah Fitchett's blog for 11 November 2013, posted to Dreamwidth. The entry is titled, "In which Christchurch makes an artform of the temporary".The entry was downloaded on 16 April 2015.
An entry from Deborah Fitchett's blog for 9 April 2011, posted to Livejournal. The entry is titled, "In which she defends the #eqnz 'new normal'".The entry was downloaded on 13 April 2015.
A damaged driveway bridge over a stream has visibly moved, scraping up some of the driveway. The photographer comments, "Our neighbour Pam Shadbolt's house, immediately behind our house, on the bank of Dudley Creek. The bridge has broken free from its foundations".
A kite flying above New Brighton beach. The photographer comments, "A bike ride to New Brighton and the beach 3 weeks after the Feb 22 quake. Roads were still very rough and under reconstruction. Kites at New Brighton on a Sunday afternoon".
A kite flying above New Brighton beach. The photographer comments, "A bike ride to New Brighton and the beach 3 weeks after the Feb 22 quake. Roads were still very rough and under reconstruction. Kites at New Brighton on a Sunday afternoon".
A man takes a photograph inside a damaged house in Richmond. The photographer comments, "Revisiting our abandoned house. Photographing the dining room, note the cracked wall linings. (My brother Ross from Invercargill was visiting, he's in several of these)".
A man takes a photograph inside a damaged house in Richmond. The photographer comments, "Revisiting our abandoned house. Cracks in the north side of the kitchen. (My brother Ross from Invercargill was visiting, he's in several of these)".
This is a joint Resilience Framework undertaken by the Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering Department of the University of Auckland in association with West Power and Orion networks and partially funded by the New Zealand National Science Challenge and QuakeCoRE. The Energy- Communication research group nearly accomplished two different researches focusing on both asset resilience and system resilience. Asset resilience research which covers underground cables system in Christchurch region is entitled “2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence Impact on 11KV Underground Cables” and system resilience research which covers electricity distribution and communication system in West Coast region is entitled “NZ Electricity Distribution Network Resilience Assessment and Restoration Models following Major Natural Disturbance“. As the fourth milestone of the aforementioned research project, the latest outcome of both projects has been socialised with the stakeholders during the Cigre NZ 2019 Forum.
This paper presents on-going challenges in the present paradigm shift of earthquakeinduced ground motion prediction from empirical to physics-based simulation methods. The 2010-2011 Canterbury and 2016 Kaikoura earthquakes are used to illustrate the predictive potential of the different methods. On-going efforts on simulation validation and theoretical developments are then presented, as well as the demands associated with the need for explicit consideration of modelling uncertainties. Finally, discussion is also given to the tools and databases needed for the efficient utilization of simulated ground motions both in specific engineering projects as well as for near-real-time impact assessment.
We measure the longer-term effect of a major earthquake on the local economy, using night-time light intensity measured from space, and investigate whether insurance claim payments for damaged residential property affected the local recovery process. We focus on the destructive Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) 2010 -2011 as our case study. Uniquely for this event, more than 95% of residential housing units were covered by insurance, but insurance payments were staggered over 5 years, enabling us to identify their local impact. We find that night-time luminosity can capture the process of recovery and describe the recovery’s determinants. We also find that insurance payments contributed significantly to the process of economic recovery after the earthquake, but delayed payments were less affective and cash settlement of claims were more effective than insurance-managed repairs in contributing to local recovery.
1. Background and Objectives This poster presents results from ground motion simulations of small-to-moderate magnitude (3.5≤Mw≤5.0) earthquake events in the Canterbury, New Zealand region using the Graves and Pitarka (2010,2015) methodology. Subsequent investigation of systematic ground motion effects highlights the prediction bias in the simulations which are also benchmarked against empirical ground motion models (e.g. Bradley (2013)). In this study, 144 earthquake ruptures, modelled as point sources, are considered with 1924 quality-assured ground motions recorded across 45 strong motion stations throughout the Canterbury region, as shown in Figure 1. The majority of sources are Mw≥4.0 and have centroid depth (CD) 10km or shallower. Earthquake source descriptions were obtained from the GeoNet New Zealand earthquake catalogue. The ground motion simulations were performed within a computational domain of 140km x 120km x 46km with a finite difference grid spacing of 0.1km. The low-frequency (LF) simulations utilize the 3D Canterbury Velocity Model while the high-frequency (HF) simulations utilize a generic regional 1D velocity model. In the LF simulations, a minimum shear wave velocity of 500m/s is enforced, yielding a maximum frequency of 1.0Hz.
A video of a presentation by Professor David Johnston during the fourth plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. Johnston is a Senior Scientist at GNS Science and Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research in the School of Psychology at Massey University. The presentation is titled, "Understanding Immediate Human Behaviour to the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, Implications for injury prevention and risk communication".The abstract for the presentation reads as follows: The 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquake sequences have given us a unique opportunity to better understand human behaviour during and immediately after an earthquake. On 4 September 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred near Darfield in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. There were no deaths, but several thousand people sustained injuries and sought medical assistance. Less than 6 months later, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred under Christchurch City at 12:51 p.m. on 22 February 2011. A total of 182 people were killed in the first 24 hours and over 7,000 people injured overall. To reduce earthquake casualties in future events, it is important to understand how people behaved during and immediately after the shaking, and how their behaviour exposed them to risk of death or injury. Most previous studies have relied on an analysis of medical records and/or reflective interviews and questionnaire studies. In Canterbury we were able to combine a range of methods to explore earthquake shaking behaviours and the causes of injuries. In New Zealand, the Accident Compensation Corporation (a national health payment scheme run by the government) allowed researchers to access injury data from over 9,500 people from the Darfield (4 September 2010) and Christchurch (22 February 2011 ) earthquakes. The total injury burden was analysed for demography, context of injury, causes of injury, and injury type. From the injury data inferences into human behaviour were derived. We were able to classify the injury context as direct (immediate shaking of the primary earthquake or aftershocks causing unavoidable injuries), and secondary (cause of injury after shaking ceased). A second study examined people's immediate responses to earthquakes in Christchurch New Zealand and compared responses to the 2011 earthquake in Hitachi, Japan. A further study has developed a systematic process and coding scheme to analyse earthquake video footage of human behaviour during strong earthquake shaking. From these studies a number of recommendations for injury prevention and risk communication can be made. In general, improved building codes, strengthening buildings, and securing fittings will reduce future earthquake deaths and injuries. However, the high rate of injuries incurred from undertaking an inappropriate action (e.g. moving around) during or immediately after an earthquake suggests that further education is needed to promote appropriate actions during and after earthquakes. In New Zealand - as in US and worldwide - public education efforts such as the 'Shakeout' exercise are trying to address the behavioural aspects of injury prevention.
A photograph of the inside of the dew and lens cap from the Townsend Telescope.
A photograph of the flange mount for the objective cell from the Townsend Telescope.
A report detailing the Liquefaction Trial, the observations, and discussions of the trial interpretation and findings.
A long line of cars on Shirley Road. While the centre of the road is clear, there is flooding and liquefaction along the edges.
Large cracks in Avonside Drive, where the road has slumped towards the river. The photographer comments, "Swanns Rd bridge, Avonside".
A photograph of a bolt from the Townsend Telescope. The bolt sheared during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A push lawnmower sits in liquefaction silt beside the porch of a house. The photographer comments, "A friend's house, liquefaction covers the front lawn".
Two workers look on as a long reach excavator demolishes the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The photographer comments, "The Crowne Plaza Hotel being demolished".
As a result of the Canterbury earthquakes, over 60% of the concrete buildings in the Christchurch Central Business District have been demolished. This experience has highlighted the need to provide guidance on the residual capacity and repairability of earthquake-damaged concrete buildings. Experience from 2010 Chile indicates that it is possible to repair severely damaged concrete elements (see photo at right), although limited testing has been performed on such repaired components. The first phase of this project is focused on the performance of two lightly-reinforced concrete walls that are being repaired and re-tested after damage sustained during previous testing.
A photograph of components of a model of the ChristChurch Cathedral being built from LEGO by Sam Butcher. Sam comments "Fixing a large variety of bits that were wrong/annoying/cheating (not purist) about the last model. The new one is set AFTER the Feb 22 earthquake. This newer, and much stronger model is also completely modular for easier transport. Obviously still a WIP, I'm currently waiting for a pretty large bricklink order at the moment, and will probably need to place a couple more after that too. Back on the new technical design for the Cathedral Rose Window".
A photograph of components of a model of the ChristChurch Cathedral being built from LEGO by Sam Butcher. Sam comments "Fixing a large variety of bits that were wrong/annoying/cheating (not purist) about the last model. The new one is set AFTER the Feb 22 earthquake. This newer, and much stronger model is also completely modular for easier transport. Obviously still a WIP, I'm currently waiting for a pretty large bricklink order at the moment, and will probably need to place a couple more after that too. Front on the new technical design for the Cathedral Rose Window".
A photograph of components of a model of the ChristChurch Cathedral being built from LEGO by Sam Butcher. Sam comments "Fixing a large variety of bits that were wrong/annoying/cheating (not purist) about the last model. The new one is set AFTER the Feb 22 earthquake. This newer, and much stronger model is also completely modular for easier transport. Obviously still a WIP, I'm currently waiting for a pretty large bricklink order at the moment, and will probably need to place a couple more after that too. Side of the new technical design for the Cathedral Rose Window".
This dissertation explores the advocacy for the Christchurch Town Hall that occurred in 2012-2015 after the Canterbury Earthquakes. It frames this advocacy as an instance of collective-action community participation in a heritage decision, and explores the types of heritage values it expressed, particularly social values. The analysis contextualises the advocacy in post-quake Christchurch, and considers its relationship with other developments in local politics, heritage advocacy, and urban activism. In doing so, this dissertation considers how collective action operates as a form of public participation, and the practical implications for understanding and recognising social value. This research draws on studies of practices that underpin social value recognition in formal heritage management. Social value is held by communities outside institutions. Engaging with communities enables institutions to explore the values of specific places, and to realise the potential of activating local connections with heritage places. Such projects can be seen as participatory practices. However, these processes require skills and resources, and may not be appropriate for all places, communities and institutions. However, literature has understudied collective action as a form of community participation in heritage management. All participation processes have nuances of communities, processes, and context, and this dissertation analyses these in one case. The research specifically asked what heritage values (especially social values) were expressed through collective action, what the relationship was with the participation processes, communities, and wider situation that produced them, and the impact on institutional rhetoric and decisions. The research analysed values expressed in representations made to council in support of the Town Hall. It also used documentary sources and interviews with key informants to analyse the advocacy and decision-making processes and their relationships with the wider context and other grassroots activities. The analysis concluded that the values expressed intertwined social and professional values. They were related to the communities and circumstance that produced them, as an advocacy campaign for a civic heritage building from a Western architectural tradition. The advocacy value arguments were one of several factors that impacted the decision. They have had a lasting impact on rhetoric around the Town Hall, as was a heritage-making practice in its own right. This dissertation makes a number of contributions to the discussion of social value and community in heritage. It suggests connections between advocacy and participation perspectives in heritage. It recommends consideration of nuances of communities, context, and place meanings when using heritage advocacy campaigns as evidence of social value. It adds to the literature on heritage advocacy, and offers a focused analysis of one of many heritage debates that occurred in post-quake Christchurch. Ultimately, it encourages practice to actively integrate social and community values and to develop self-reflexive engagement and valuation processes. Despite inherent challenges, participatory processes offer opportunities to diversify understandings of value, co-produce heritage meanings with communities, and empower citizens in democratic processes around the places they live with and love.
Seismic isolation is an effective technology for significantly reducing damage to buildings and building contents. However, its application to light-frame wood buildings has so far been unable to overcome cost and technical barriers such as susceptibility to movement during high-wind loading. The precursor to research in the field of isolation of residential buildings was the 1994 Northridge Earthquake (6.7 MW) in the United States and the 1995 Kobe Earthquake (6.9 MW) in Japan. While only a small number of lives were lost in residential buildings in these events, the economic impact was significant with over half of earthquake recovery costs given to repair and reconstruction of residential building damage. A value case has been explored to highlight the benefits of seismically isolated residential buildings compared to a standard fixed-base dwellings for the Wellington region. Loss data generated by insurance claim information from the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake has been used by researchers to determine vulnerability functions for the current light-frame wood building stock. By further considering the loss attributed to drift and acceleration sensitive components, and a simplified single degree of freedom (SDOF) building model, a method for determining vulnerability functions for seismic isolated buildings was developed. Vulnerability functions were then applied directly in a loss assessment using the GNS developed software, RiskScape. Vulnerability was shown to dramatically reduce for isolated buildings compared to an equivalent fixed-base building and as a result, the monetary savings in a given earthquake scenario were significant. This work is expected to drive further interest for development of solutions for the seismic isolation of residential dwellings, of which one option is further considered and presented herein.
Members of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team in their temporary office in the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "University of Canterbury administration all fits into one building! Well, sort of. The e-learning corner; Alan Hoskin (learning adviser) in the foreground, some guy in a blue shirt at my desk, Rob Stowell (our video guy) arriving, Herbert Thomas (group leader), Lei Zhang (elearning developer/sysadmin)".
The University of Canterbury's E-Learning team's temporary office in the James Hight building. The photographer comments, "First looks at our new temporary (maybe) office space. Our group will stay here until April or May 2011, then will move to another floor in the Central Library. Common area. How will we make use of this large open area? Our offices are behind the glass wall, facing south".
A small tower on top of a roof in the Arts Centre. The photographer comments, "A bike ride around the CBD. Arts Centre".
A close-up photograph of the wheel from the worm gear drive of the Townsend Telescope.