A Civil Defence staff member completing a Level 1 Rapid Assessment inspection form for a damaged house. Some of the brickwork has collapsed from the outer wall and the awnings over the windows have collapsed.
A photograph of a crushed car outside Bismarck House at 140 Lichfield Street taken from behind a wire fence. Bricks from the building have crumbled from the top storey, landing on the roof of the car and crushing it.
A Civil Defence staff member talking on his cell phone, he is holding clipboard with a form titled 'Christchurch Eq rapid assessment form level 1'. The brickwork of the house has crumbled and the broken windows have been boarded up.
A photograph of the old post office building on the corner of Tuam Street and High Street which housed Alice in Videoland before the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of documents taped to the door of 156 McCormacks Bay Road in Redcliffs. One of the documents is from the Christchurch City Council and reads, "Do not approach or enter this building".
Codes spray-painted by the North Shore City Council rescue team on the driveway of a house in Dallington. The cement blocks of the driveway have lifted in the background, creating a cracked and uneven surface.
A photograph of the second storey of the partially-demolished Westende Jewellers Building on the corner of Manchester and Worcester Streets, which housed Alva Rados Mexican restaurant. The building was severely damage during the 4 September 2010 earthquake and had to be demolished.
Several vehicles on Gloucester Street which have been crushed by falling masonry from Wave House (Winnie Bagoes Gourmet Pizza Bar). Emergency personnel have spray painted two of the cars with the word "Clear" to indicate they have been checked for trapped or injured people. The scene has been cordoned off by New Zealand Fire Service tape.
Two men converse on the site of Gap Filler's "Film in the Gap!" project. Behind them is a chalkboard sign outlining the programme for the evening of April 2nd, 2011. The sign reads, "Gap Filler: 1st - 10th of April. Free live music and films from 6pm onwards. Saturday: 5pm: The Captain Willis Trio, 6pm: Ed Muzik, 7pm: The Cracks in Everything, 8pm: Film - 4 Houses, 4 Decades (Christchurch Architecture). All welcome! Bring a blanket or cushion. Ex demolition site. Please be safety aware. Proper footwear must be worn!".
Sally Roome talking to members of the Sumner community outside the UC QuakeBox container in Sumner. Above, the damaged cliffs can be seen with a house at the edge on a lean.
Sally Roome talking to members of the Sumner community outside the UC QuakeBox container in Sumner. Above, the damaged cliffs can be seen with a house at the edge on a lean.
A photograph of the site of the Crowne Plaza Hotel taken from Radio New Zealand House on Durham Street. The hotel has been demolished, leaving large piles of rubble which an excavator is working to clear.
Damage to Wave House on Gloucester Street (Winnie Bagoes Pizza Bar). The roof and left side of the building have collapsed and crumbled into the street, crushing several cars. Emergency personnel have spray painted two of the cars with the word "Clear" to indicate they have been checked for trapped or injured people. The scene has been cordoned off by New Zealand Fire Service tape.
New Zealand has a long tradition of using light timber frame for construction of its domestic dwellings. After the most recent earthquakes (e.g. Canterbury earthquakes sequence), wooden residential houses showed satisfactory life safety performance. However, poor performance was reported in terms of their seismic resilience. Although numerous innovative methods to mitigate damage have been introduced to the New Zealand community in order to improve wooden house performance, these retrofit options have not been readily taken up. The low number of retrofitted wooden-framed houses leads to questions about whether homeowners are aware of the necessity of seismic retrofitting their houses to achieve a satisfactory seismic performance. This study aims to explore different retrofit technologies that can be applied to wooden-framed houses in Wellington, taking into account the need of homeowners to understand the risk, likelihood and extent of damage expected after an event. A survey will be conducted in Wellington about perceptions of homeowners towards the expected performance of their wooden-framed houses. The survey questions were designed to gain an understanding of homeowners' levels of safety and awareness of possible damage after a seismic event. Afterwards, a structural review of a sample of the houses will be undertaken to identify common features and detail potential seismic concerns. The findings will break down barriers to making improvements in the performance of wooden-framed houses and lead to enhancements in the confidence of homeowners in the event of future seismic activity. This will result in increased understanding and contribute towards an accessible knowledge base, which will possibly increase significantly the use of these technologies and avoid unnecessary economic and social costs after a seismic event.
A photograph of Mike Hewson's installation, 'Prop Hide', on the south wall of the former Trinity Congregational Church. The installation is part of a series titled, 'Homage to the Lost Spaces'. The building housed the Octagon Live restaurant between 2006 and 2010.
A photograph of Mike Hewson's installation, 'Prop Hide', on the south wall of the former Trinity Congregational Church. The installation is part of a series titled, 'Homage to the Lost Spaces'. The building housed the Octagon Live restaurant between 2006 and 2010.
A view down Colombo Street of a team of Fire Service and Search and Rescue personnel using a crane to check the Forsyth Barr building for people trapped by the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Behind them the broken tower of the Christ Church Cathedral can be seen.
Sally Roome talking to members of the Sumner community outside the UC QuakeBox container in Sumner. Above, the damaged cliffs can be seen with a house at the edge on a lean. To the left, shipping containers line the street. One has been placed on the footpath next to where the UC QuakeBox is sitting and covered with a patchwork quilt.
Disasters, either man-made or natural, are characterised by a multiplicity of factors including loss of property, life, environmental degradation, and psychosocial malfunction of the affected community. Although much research has been undertaken on proactive disaster management to help reduce the impacts of natural and man-made disasters, many challenges still remain. In particular, the desire to re-house the affected as quickly as possible can affect long-term recovery if a considered approach is not adopted. Promoting recovery activities, coordination, and information sharing at national and international levels are crucial to avoid duplication. Mannakkara and Wilkinson’s (2014) modified “Build Back Better” (BBB) concept aims for better resilience by incorporating key resilience elements in post-disaster restoration. This research conducted an investigation into the effectiveness of BBB in the recovery process after the 2010–2011 earthquakes in greater Christchurch, New Zealand. The BBB’s impact was assessed in terms of its five key components: built environment, natural environment, social environment, economic environment, and implementation process. This research identified how the modified BBB propositions can assist in disaster risk reduction in the future, and used both qualitative and quantitative data from both the Christchurch and Waimakariri recovery processes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key officials from the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority, and city councils, and supplemented by reviewing of the relevant literature. Collecting data from both qualitative and quantitative sources enabled triangulation of the data. The interviewees had directly participated in all phases of the recovery, which helped the researcher gain a clear understanding of the recovery process. The findings led to the identification of best practices from the Christchurch and Waimakariri recovery processes and underlined the effectiveness of the BBB approach for all recovery efforts. This study contributed an assessment tool to aid the measurement of resilience achieved through BBB indicators. This tool provides systematic and structured approach to measure the performance of ongoing recovery.