This report forms part of a research project examining rural community resilience to natural hazard events, with a particular focus on transient population groups. A preliminary desktop and scoping exercise was undertaken to examine nine communities affected by the Kaikoura earthquake and to identify the variety of transient population groups that are commonly (and increasingly) found in rural New Zealand (see Wilson & Simmons, 2017). From this, four case study communities – Blenheim, Kaikoura, Waiau and St Arnaud – were selected to represent a range of settlement types. These communities varied in respect of social, economic and geographic features, including the presence of particular transient population groups, and earthquake impact. While the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake provided a natural hazard event on which to focus the research, the research interest was in long-term (and broad) community resilience, rather than short-term (and specific) response and recovery actions which occurred post-earthquake.
Summary of oral history interview with Netta about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Summary of oral history interview with Rebecca Gordon about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Summary of oral history interview with Kirsten Rennie about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Transcript of Hugh Smith's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
A story submitted by Suzanne Carter to the QuakeStories website.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Wildflowers in a Sydenham demolition site".
A story submitted by Jennifer to the QuakeStories website.
Summary of oral history interview with Carol Hides about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 6 November 2010 entitled, "Kilmore Cupcakes".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 27 October 2011 entitled, "Christian Co-operation".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 26 February 2011 entitled, "Shaken City".
Transcript of Peter Young's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Transcript of Pete Cosgrove's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 19 October 2011 entitled, "One more quilt to show...".
The capital has a tight rental accommodation market, and the peak demand season is just a few weeks from beginning. One prospective Wellington flat hunter, who'd experienced the Christchurch earthquake - including knowledge of the collapse, or partial collapse, of 3 buildings he'd previously lived in - has contacted us, frustrated at the lack of information available from landlords or letting agencies. What rights to information do tenants have?
Summary of oral history interview with Susan Allen about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
A story submitted by Lloyd Carpenter to the QuakeStories website.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 1 January 2012 entitled, "Bucky Birthday".
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
Transcript of participant number LY960's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Summary of oral history interview with Helen Trappitt about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 14 January 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
Summary of oral history interview with Jane Sutherland-Norton about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
A story submitted by Kim to the QuakeStories website.
Though rare and unpredictable, earthquakes can and do cause catastrophic destruction when they impact unprepared and vulnerable communities. Extensive damage and failure of vulnerable buildings is a key factor which contributes to seismic-related disasters, making the proactive management of these buildings a necessity to reduce the risk of future disasters arising. The devastating Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 brought the urgency of this issue to national importance in New Zealand. The national earthquake-prone building framework came into effect in 2017, obligating authorities to identify existing buildings with the greatest risk of collapse in strong earthquakes and for building owners to strengthen or demolish these buildings within a designated period of time. Though this framework is unique to New Zealand, the challenge of managing the seismic risk of such buildings is common amongst all seismically-active countries. Therefore, looking outward to examine how other jurisdictions legally manage this challenge is useful for reflecting on the approaches taken in New Zealand and understand potential lessons which could be adopted. This research compares the legal framework used to reduce the seismic risk of existing buildings in New Zealand with that of the similarly earthquake-prone countries of Japan and Italy. These legal frameworks are examined with a particular focus on the proactive goal of reducing risk and improving resilience, as is the goal of the international Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The Sendai Framework, which each of the case study countries have committed to and thus have obligations under, forms the legal basis of the need for states to reduce disaster risk in their jurisdictions. In particular, the states’ legal frameworks for existing building risk reduction are examined in the context of the Sendai priorities of understanding disaster risk, strengthening disaster risk governance, and investing in resilience. While this research illustrates that the case study countries have each adopted more proactive risk reduction frameworks in recent years in anticipation of future earthquakes, the frameworks currently focus on a very narrow range of existing buildings and thus are not currently sufficient for promoting the long-term resilience of building stocks. In order to improve resilience, it is argued, legal frameworks need to include a broader range of buildings subject to seismic risk reduction obligations and also to broaden the focus on long-term monitoring of potential risk to buildings.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 4 October 2012 entitled, "Lovely Lotus".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 3 October 2012 entitled, "Hopeful Hotel".
A story submitted by Allie to the QuakeStories website.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 22 March 2012 entitled, "Lamenting the Loss".
