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Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a building on Worcester Street which suffered fire damage after the 4 September 2010 earthquake. The earthquake caused an electrical fire in the building which has blackened the front side of it.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Damaged by fire on Friday 7 December. See Press article Suspicions over building fires. Monday 10 December 2012. File reference: CCL-2012-12-10-IMG_1102 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Damaged by fire on Friday 7 December. See Press article Suspicions over building fires. Monday 10 December 2012. File reference: CCL-2012-12-10-IMG_1105 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

Damaged by fire on Friday 7 December. See Press article Suspicions over building fires. Monday 10 December 2012. File reference: CCL-2012-12-10-IMG_1103 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Fire following earthquakes have caused the largest single loss due to earthquakes and in most cases have caused more damage than the quake itself. This problem is regarded very seriously in Japan and in some parts of the United States of America (San Francisco), but is not very seriously considered in other earthquake prone countries, yet the potential for future conflagrations following earthquakes is enormous. Any discussion of post earthquake fire must take into account structural and non-structural damages, initial and spreading fire, wind, water availability, and emergency responses. In this paper we will look at initial fire ignitions, growth and spread and life and property damage. Prevention methods will also be discussed. We will also discuss as examples some case studies: - San Francisco 1989 - Napier 1931 -Christchurch (scenario)

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A fire engine driving past the damaged Provincial Council Legislative Chamber on Durham Street. The building's roof and walls have collapsed, as has the scaffolding which was erected to repair it after the 4 September 2010 earthquake.

Videos, UC QuakeStudies

A video about a fire which broke out in an earthquake-damaged building on High Street. The video includes an interview with Steve Kennedy, Canterbury Fire Service Assistant Area Manager, Brigid Fayle, who worked in the building prior to the 22 February 2011 earthquake, and Anne MacKenzie, a structural engineer who worked on strengthening the building.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

On Tuesday 22 February 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city. The ‘earthquake’ was in fact an aftershock to an earlier 7.1 magnitude earthquake that had occurred on Saturday 4 September 2010. There were a number of key differences between the two events that meant they had dramatically different results for Christchurch and its inhabitants. The 22 February 2011 event resulted in one of New Zealand’s worst natural disasters on record, with 185 fatalities occurring and hundreds more being injured. In addition, a large number of buildings either collapsed or were damaged to the point where they needed to be totally demolished. Since the initial earthquake in September 2010, a large amount of building-related research has been initiated in New Zealand to investigate the impact of the series of seismic events – the major focus of these research projects has been on seismic, structural and geotechnical engineering matters. One project, however, conducted jointly by the University of Canterbury, the Fire Protection Association of New Zealand and BRANZ, has focused on the performance of fire protection systems in the earthquakes and the effectiveness of the systems in the event of post-earthquake fires occurring. Fortunately, very few fires actually broke out following the series of earthquake events in Christchurch, but fire after earthquakes still has significant implications for the built environment in New Zealand, and the collaborative research has provided some invaluable insight into the potential threat posed by post-earthquake fires in buildings. As well as summarising the damage caused to fire protection systems, this paper discusses the flow-on effect for designing structures to withstand post-earthquake fires. One of the underlying issues that will be explored is the existing regulatory framework in New Zealand whereby structural earthquake design and structural design for fire are treated as discrete design scenarios.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue breaking through the floor of a building which was severely damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.