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Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake-damaged buildings and rubble on Colombo Street near the intersection of St Asaph Street. The walls of the top storey of the buildings to the left have crumbled, and bricks and other rubble have fallen onto the footpath and road below. Wire fencing and police tape have been placed across the street as a cordon. An excavator from Daniel Smith Industries Ltd is parked in front of the fence.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Montgomery's Building on the corner of Colombo and Tuam Streets. Large sections of the façade have collapsed, exposing the inside of the building. The bricks and other rubble have mostly been cleared from the footpath and street in front. Wire fences have been placed around the building as a cordon. In the distance there is a large pile of bricks on a property where another building has collapsed.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A sewage pumping station on Avonside Drive has been lifted out of the ground by liquefaction. In the background, the damaged Snell Place footbridge over the Avon River is closed off with cordon fencing. The photographer comments, "A Sunday afternoon ride to New Brighton, then back via Aranui, Wainoni, Dallington, and Richmond. Not a cheerful experience. Dallington footbridge. The two pieces of this foot bridge have moved towards each other, so the bridge has developed quite a peak. The sewage pumping station has been heaved out of the ground by hydraulic pressure during quakes".

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Background Liquefaction induced land damage has been identified in more than 13 notable New Zealand earthquakes within the past 150 years, as presented on the timeline below. Following the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES), the consequences of liquefaction were witnessed first-hand in the city of Christchurch and as a result the demand for understanding this phenomenon was heightened. Government, local councils, insurers and many other stakeholders are now looking to research and understand their exposure to this natural hazard.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the south end of Latimer Square near Hereford Street. A generator has been hooked up to a power board which has several power plugs attached to it. A crate of supplies is sitting behind the power board. Wire fencing has been set up in the background as a cordon, and emergency tape has been draped between the trees. Behind this there are earthquake-damaged buildings, excavators and their parts, and rubble on Madras Street.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A car stuck in liquefaction on Breezes Road. The front wheels have fallen into a submerged pothole, lifting the back wheels off the ground. A line of other vehicles drive around the partially-submerged car. The photographer comments, "The most common sight was extensive damage to the roads. Papanui, Breezes, Wainoni, Shortland Street and many more roads had large cracks and large sink holes. There were approximately 6 cars and 1 large Ready Mix cement truck that had fallen into holes within a few blocks of each other. All people appear to have escaped without serious injury as far as I could tell".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A car stuck in liquefaction on Breezes Road. The front wheels have fallen into a submerged pothole, lifting the back wheels off the ground. A line of other vehicles drive around the partially-submerged car. The photographer comments, "The most common sight was extensive damage to the roads. Papanui, Breezes, Wainoni, Shortland Street and many more roads had large cracks and large sink holes. There were approximately 6 cars and 1 large Ready Mix cement truck that had fallen into holes within a few blocks of each other. All people appear to have escaped without serious injury as far as I could tell".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house on Marine Parade in North Brighton. The front section of the house has collapsed, the rest buckled. The wall of the gable has also collapsed as well as part of the lower front wall. A red sticker in the window indicates that the building is unsafe to enter. A message has been spray painted on the front window, reading, "Roof tiles, $3 each". Police tape, a road cone and saw horses have been used to cordon off the house.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing in front of the earthquake-damaged Avonmore House on Hereford Street. Sections of the walls have crumbled, spilling bricks and masonry onto the footpath and street below. Many of the windows have warped, breaking the glass. USAR codes have been spray-painted on one of the columns. A red sticker taped to the door indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing in front of the earthquake-damaged Avonmore House on Hereford Street. Sections of the walls have crumbled, spilling bricks and masonry onto the footpath and street below. Many of the windows have also warped, breaking the glass. USAR codes have been spray-painted on one of the columns. A red sticker taped to the door indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of emergency management personnel examining a block of earthquake-damaged rooms at Stonehurst Accommodation on Gloucester Street. The bottom storey of the block has collapsed and the remaining rooms are now resting on an incline. The front walls of these rooms have also collapsed and the rubble has spilled in to the courtyard in front. Cordon tape has been draped across the courtyard in front of the rubble. In the foreground there is liquefaction on the ground from a liquefaction volcano.

Articles, UC QuakeStudies

A PDF copy of a poster like those created on the All Right? Poster Generator. The poster features the responses from a number of Christchurch residents about what makes them feel good, such as "When I see the remarkable creative spirit and energy in my quake-damaged seaside suburb. Andrew, New Brighton." The posters were placed around the city at locations such as cafes, doctors surgeries and fish and chip shops. All Right? posted this poster on their Facebook Timeline on 10 May 2013 at 4:06pm.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Avonmore House on the corner of Hereford Street and Latimer Square. Large cracks have formed in the building, causing sections of the masonry to crumble. The windows on the Hereford Street side of the building have bent out of shape and many of the glass panes have shattered. USAR codes have been spray painted on the column next to the door. In the distance wire fencing has been placed across the street as a cordon.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Many buildings with relatively low damage from the 2010-2011 Canterbury were deemed uneconomic to repair and were replaced [1,2]. Factors that affected commercial building owners’ decisions to replace rather than repair, included capital availability, uncertainty with regards to regional recovery, local market conditions and ability to generate cash flow, and repair delays due to limited property access (cordon). This poster provides a framework for modeling decision-making in a case where repair is feasible but replacement might offer greater economic value – a situation not currently modeled in engineering risk analysis.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

During the Christchurch earthquake of February 2011, several midrise buildings of Reinforced Concrete Masonry (RCM) construction achieved performance levels in the range of life safety to near collapse levels. These buildings were subjected to seismic demands higher than the building code requirements of the time and higher than the current New Zealand Loadings Standard (NZS-1170.5:2004). Structural damage to these buildings has been documented and is currently being studied to establish lessons to be learned from their performance and how to incorporate these lessons into future RCM design and construction practices. This paper presents a case study of a six story RCM building deemed to have reached the near collapse performance level. The RCM walls on the 2nd floor failed due to toe crushing reducing the building’s lateral resistance in the east-west direction. A nonlinear dynamic analysis on a 3D model was conducted to simulate the development of the governing failure mechanism. Preliminary analysis results show that the damaged walls were initially under large compression forces from gravity loads which caused increase in their lateral strength and reduced their ductility. After toe crushing failure developed, axial instability of the model was prevented by a redistribution of gravity loads.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The Manchester Courts building was a heritage building located in central Christchurch (New Zealand) that was damaged in the Mw 7.1 Darfield earthquake on 4 September 2010 and subsequently demolished as a risk reduction exercise. Because the building was heritage listed, the decision to demolish the building resulted in strong objections from heritage supporters who were of the opinion that the building had sufficient residual strength to survive possible aftershock earthquakes. On 22 February 2011 Christchurch was struck by a severe aftershock, leading to the question of whether building demolition had proven to be the correct risk reduction strategy. Finite element analysis was used to undertake a performance-based assessment, validating the accuracy of the model using the damage observed in the building before its collapse. In addition, soil-structure interaction was introduced into the research due to the comparatively low shear wave velocity of the soil. The demolition of a landmark heritage building was a tragedy that Christchurch will never recover from, but the decision was made considering safety, societal, economic and psychological aspects in order to protect the city and its citizens. The analytical results suggest that the Manchester Courts building would have collapsed during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, and that the collapse of the building would have resulted in significant fatalities.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the former site of Westende Jewellers and Alva Rados, on the corner of Manchester Street and Worcester Street. The building was badly-damaged in the 4 September earthquake and was demolished soon afterwards. A two-storey building was built on the site and completed in July 2012. The building then had to be removed when the decision was made to widen Manchester Street as part of the draft transport plan for central Christchurch. The photograph was modelled after an image taken by Ian McGregor from Fairfax Media in September 2010.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the former site of Westende Jewellers and Alva Rados, on the corner of Manchester Street and Worcester Street. The building was badly-damaged in the 4 September earthquake and was demolished soon afterwards. A two-storey building was built on the site and completed in July 2012. The building then had to be removed when the decision was made to widen Manchester Street as part of the draft transport plan for central Christchurch. The photograph was modelled after an image taken by Ian McGregor from Fairfax Media in September 2010.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The current seismic design practice for reinforced concrete (RC) walls has been drawn into question following the unsatisfactory performance of several RC wall buildings during the Canterbury earthquakes. An overview of current research being undertaken at the University of Auckland into the seismic behaviour of RC walls is presented. The main objectives of this research project are to understand the observed performance of RC walls in Christchurch, quantify the seismic loads on RC walls, and developed improved design procedures for RC walls that will assist in revisions to the New Zealand Concrete Structures Standard. A database summarising the performance of RC wall buildings in the Christchurch CBD was collated to identify damage modes and case-study buildings. A detailed investigation is underway to verify the seismic performance of lightly reinforced concrete walls and initial numerical modeling and small-scale tests are presented in addition to details of planned experimental tests of RC walls. Numerical modelling is being used to understand the potential influence that interactions between walls and other structural elements have on the seismic response of buildings and the loads generated on RC walls. The results from finite element analysis of a severely damaged RC wall in Christchurch highlighted the effect that the floor diaphragms have on the distribution of shear stains in the wall.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The greater Wellington region, New Zealand, is highly vulnerable to large earthquakes. While attention has been paid to the consequences of earthquake damage to road, electricity and water supply networks, the consequences of wastewater network damage for public health, environmental health and habitability of homes remain largely unknown for Wellington City. The Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes have highlighted the vulnerability of sewerage systems to disruption during a disaster. Management of human waste is one of the critical components of disaster planning to reduce faecal-oral transmission of disease and exposure to disease-bearing vectors. In Canterbury and Kaikōura, emergency sanitation involved a combination of Port-a-loos, chemical toilets and backyard long-drops. While many lessons may be learned from experiences in Canterbury earthquakes, it is important to note that isolation is likely to be a much greater factor for Wellington households, compared to Christchurch, due to the potential for widespread landslides in hill suburbs affecting road access. This in turn implies that human waste may have to be managed onsite, as options such as chemical toilets and Port-a-loos rely completely on road access for delivering chemicals and collecting waste. While some progress has been made on options such as emergency composting toilets, significant knowledge gaps remain on how to safely manage waste onsite. In order to bridge these gaps, laboratory tests will be conducted through the second half of 2019 to assess the pathogen die-off rates in the composting toilet system with variables being the type of carbon bulking material and the addition of a Bokashi composting activator.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

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.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

People walk and drive along Manchester Street shortly after the 22 February earthquake. Bricks from collapsed buildings litter the road. The photographer comments, "Just after the aftershock settled on Tuesday afternoon, myself and colleagues fled our Tuam Street office to absolute devastation outside. We couldn't see more than a block in either direction due to the clouds of dust that had arisen from buildings that had just collapsed ... From here, we picked up our vehicles from the CCC car park and headed out to get out of the chaos to a position where we could check on loved ones. Heading first along Manchester Street, buildings that were already heavily damaged were now completely written off".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of paper hearts pegged on the cordon fence around the Chinese Methodist Church on Papanui Road. Quotes on the hearts read, "'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.' Psalm 23", "'We can do no great things; only small things with great love.' Mother Teresa, and, "'Peace begins with a smile,' Mother Teresa". In the background, the earthquake damage to the Christchurch Chinese Methodist Church can be seen. The wall of the gable has crumbled, the bricks spilling onto the grass below.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

The temporary ASB branch in the Re:Start mall. The photographer comments, "The new temporary city mall has been open in Christchurch now for a week. Buildings damaged in the earthquake have been demolished and replaced with cargo containers to create a new, temporary, Cashel Mall. I visited the mall yesterday and was quite impressed with what they have done. The cargo containers have been nicely converted, brightly painted and smartly branded to create some good looking stores ... ASB is the only bank to grab a container, which is fair enough seeing as they appear to be a large sponsor of the mall. The 'Re:START' Cashel Mall signs also display the tag line 'Supported by ASB'".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house on Marine Parade in North Brighton. The front section of the house has collapsed, the rest buckled. The wall of the gable has also collapsed as well as part of the lower front wall. A red sticker in the window indicates that the building is unsafe to enter. A message has been spray painted on the front window, reading, "Roof tiles, $3 each". Police tape has been used to cordon off the house. Public notices can be seen on the fence, on the roof of the collapsed section and the section behind.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Background and methodology The Mw 7.8, 14th November 2016 earthquake centred (item b, figure 1) in the Hurunui District of the South Island, New Zealand, damaged critical infrastructure across North Canterbury and Marlborough. We investigate the impacts to infrastructure and adaptations to the resulting service disruption in four small rural towns (figure 1): Culverden (a), Waiau (c), Ward (d) and Seddon (e). This is accomplished though literary research, interviews and geospatial analysis. Illustrating our methods, we have displayed here a Hurunui District hazard map (figure 2b) and select infrastructure inventories (figures 2a, 3).

Articles, UC QuakeStudies

A copy of a letter from Hugo Kristinsson which was sent to Roger Sutton on 19 September 2013. The letter was sent on behalf of Empowered Christchurch. In the letter, Kristinsson expresses his concern about changes to the Building Act which he states, 'waive liability for the Building Consent Authority when repairs are carried out on homes with land damage'. He also discusses the CERA community forums, which he feel are not fufilling their purpose of supporting and informing the Canterbury community. Lastly, Kristinsson lodges an Official Information Act request, asking for all forum notices and minutes to be released to the public and for access to land information to be provided.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

People walk down Colombo Street past collapsed buildings shortly after the 22 February earthquake. The photographer comments, "Just after the aftershock settled on Tuesday afternoon, myself and colleagues fled our Tuam Street office to absolute devastation outside. We couldn't see more than a block in either direction due to the clouds of dust that had arisen from buildings that had just collapsed ... From here, we picked up our vehicles from the CCC car park and headed out to get out of the chaos to a position where we could check on loved ones. Heading first along Manchester Street, buildings that were already heavily damaged were now completely written off. We couldn't get much further down Manchester Street so eventually made it to Colombo Street".

Articles, UC QuakeStudies

A PDF copy of the six signs that together read, "Share the love." The signs were used at the 'Outrageous Burst of All Right: Bacon Bombing' in December 2013. This saw team members from All Right? dress up as bacon butties and provide bacon butties for SCIRT workers. From allright.org.nz: SCIRT workers are tasked with the enormous job of rebuilding and repairing the damaged underground infrastructure and roads. With the help of Hellers and an anonymous giant bacon buttie, the All Right? team visited several SCIRT sites in December 2013 to show the workers a bit of (rather unusual) love. For photographs from the event, see: https://quakestudies.canterbury.ac.nz/store/object/21635

Articles, UC QuakeStudies

A copy of a document from Empowered Christchurch which was sent to Queen Elizabeth. The document consists of a letter from Empowered Christchurch to Douglas Martin, Crown Manager from the Christchurch City Council, and Official Information Act requests sent to Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson and Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee. It also includes an appeal to the Queen on behalf of Christchurch residents with badly-damaged houses. Please note that a letter from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which was originally included in the document, has been removed due to copyright issues.