A photograph of the ChristChurch Cathedral showing the damage to the west wall and steel bracing. In the foreground is the plinth where a statue of John Robert Godley stood prior to the February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Provincial Hotel on the corner of Barbadoes and Cashel Streets. The second storey walls have crumbled, and the bricks have fallen onto the ground below. Scaffolding erected in front of the building is now on a lean. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Christchurch Chinese Methodist Church on Papanui Road. The wall of the gable has crumbled, the bricks spilling onto the lawn below. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Christchurch Chinese Methodist Church on Papanui Road. The gable wall has crumbled, the bricks and window frame falling onto the ground. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon.
Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading during earthquakes poses a significant hazard to the built environment, as observed in Christchurch during the 2010 to 2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES). It is critical that geotechnical earthquake engineers are able to adequately predict both the spatial extent of lateral spreads and magnitudes of associated ground movements for design purposes. Published empirical and semi-empirical models for predicting lateral spread displacements have been shown to vary by a factor of <0.5 to >2 from those measured in parts of Christchurch during CES. Comprehensive post- CES lateral spreading studies have clearly indicated that the spatial distribution of the horizontal displacements and extent of lateral spreading along the Avon River in eastern Christchurch were strongly influenced by geologic, stratigraphic and topographic features.
A photograph of a portable shower unit set up in Hagley Park for the emergency management personnel who travelled to Christchurch after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A clothes line has been set up by tying ropes to the shower unit and a digger.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team in the hanger of a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules. The ERT members are travelling to Christchurch to help out in the emergency response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Blankets, tent poles, and other supplies have been stacked in the centre of the hanger.
Heathcote Valley school strong motion station (HVSC) consistently recorded ground motions with higher intensities than nearby stations during the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. For example, as shown in Figure 1, for the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, peak ground acceleration at HVSC reached 1.4 g (horizontal) and 2 g (vertical), the largest ever recorded in New Zealand. Strong amplification of ground motions is expected at Heathcote Valley due to: 1) the high impedance contrast at the soil-rock interface, and 2) the interference of incident and surface waves within the valley. However, both conventional empirical ground motion prediction equations (GMPE) and the physics-based large scale ground motions simulations (with empirical site response) are ineffective in predicting such amplification due to their respective inherent limitations.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the second story of the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The front of the storey has collapsed, exposing the inside. A tarpaulin has been draped over the top and the roof of the building behind.
A photograph of the back page of a Christchurch City Council form. The form allowed contractors to apply for the authorisation to enter the Christchurch Red Zone after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Information on the back reads, "What does this authorisation mean for me? I am wearing appropriate personal protection clothing and equipment. At all times DO NOT enter any red placarded building. You may enter a yellow placarded building for a period of time (no longer than 30 minutes) and follow the instruction of the escorts. A green placarded building may be accessed for longer periods. Please note: do not enter any buildings which are not for the purpose of your authorisation".
A photograph of the rubble from the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. Scaffolding constructed around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst the rubble. A car and the bumper of another car can be seen under the rubble.
A photograph of the rubble of the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. Scaffolding constructed around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst the rubble. In the background is the damaged tower with a tarpaulin draped over the top.
A photograph of the rubble of the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake and a digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. Scaffolding constructed around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst the rubble. In the background is the damaged tower with a tarpaulin draped over the top.
A photograph of the earthquake-damaged to a house in Christchurch. The far wall has collapsed and many of the concrete blocks have spilled into the garden in front. Emergency tape has been draped in front of the wall as a cordon. A red sticker has also been stuck on the furthest window, indicating that the house is unsafe to enter.
These research papers explore the concept of vulnerability in international human rights law. In the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010-2011, this research focuses on how "vulnerability" has been used and developed within the wider human rights discourse. They also examine jurisprudence of international human rights bodies, and how the concept of "vulnerability" has been applied. The research also includes a brief investigation into the experiences of vulnerable populations in disaster contexts, focusing primarily on the experiences of "vulnerable persons" in the Christchurch earthquakes and their aftermath.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Chinese Methodist Church on Papanui Road. The bricks at the top of the tower have crumbled, and the wooden bracing is hanging half off the building. The spire of the tower can be seen to the left where it was moved to following the 4 September 2010 earthquake.
A photograph of an earthquake damaged house in Christchurch. USAR codes have been spray painted on the front wall. A red sticker in the window indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street. The tower on the right has crumbled and the masonry has fallen to the pavement below. A car has been crushed by the fallen rubble. The dome of the left tower has collapsed and the cross at the top of the building is on a lean.
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.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a house in Christchurch. A view through the window reveals that the side wall has crumbled. A pile of bricks can be seen in the car port.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a house in Christchurch. The bricks on the side wall have crumbled and damaged the fence below. Plywood has been used to board up the front window.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Cycle Trading store on Manchester Street. The gable of the store has collapsed, and bricks and other rubble have fallen onto the footpath in front. A car parked on the street has been crushed by the fallen rubble. The word "Clear" has been spray-painted on the front of the car. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon.
An outline, created in 2011, of the levels of service and condition of the horizontal infrastructure within the central city, providing a broad indication of damage, service levels provided to residents and business owners, and used to estimate the cost of repairs following the earthquake events.
This thesis investigates life-safety risk in earthquakes. The first component of the thesis utilises a dataset of earthquake injuries and deaths from recent earthquakes in New Zealand to identify cause, context, and risk factors of injury and death in the 2011 MW6.3 Christchurch earthquake and 2016 MW7.8 Kaikōura earthquake. Results show that nearly all deaths occurred from being hit by structural elements from buildings, while most injuries were caused by falls, strains and being hit by contents or non-structural elements. Statistical analysis of injured cases compared to an uninjured control group found that age, gender, building damage, shaking intensity, and behaviour during shaking were the most significant risk factors for injury during these earthquakes. The second part of the thesis uses the empirical findings from the first section to develop two tools for managing life-safety risk in earthquakes. The first tool is a casualty estimation model for health system and emergency response planning. An existing casualty model used in New Zealand was validated against observed data from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and found to underestimate moderate and severe injuries by an order of magnitude. The model was then updated to include human behaviour such as protective actions, falls and strain type injuries that are dependent on shaking intensity, as well as injuries and deaths outside buildings. These improvements resulted in a closer fit to observed casualties for the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The second tool that was developed is a framework to set seismic loading standards for design based on fatality risk targets. The proposed framework extends the risk-targeted hazard method, by moving beyond collapse risk targets, to fatality risk targets for individuals in buildings and societal risk in cities. The framework also includes treatment of epistemic uncertainty in seismic hazard to allow this uncertainty to be used in risk-based decision making. The framework is demonstrated by showing how the current New Zealand loading standards could be revised to achieve uniform life-safety risk across the country and how the introduction of a new loading factor can reduce risk aggregation in cities. Not on Alma, moved and emailed. 1/02/2023 ce
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Country Theme store on the corner of Manchester and St Asaph Streets. Sections of the second storey walls have crumbled, and the bricks have fallen onto the footpath below. Wire fences have been placed around the building as a cordon. Red stickers on the front door and the wire fence indicate that the building is not safe to enter.
This thesis describes the strategies for earthquake strengthening vintage clay bricks unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. URM buildings are well known to be vulnerable to damage from earthquake-induced lateral forces that may result in partial or full building collapse. The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes are the most recent destructive natural disaster that resulted in the deaths of 185 people. The earthquake events had drawn people’s attention when URM failure and collapse caused about 39 of the fatality. Despite the poor performance of URM buildings during the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes, a number of successful case study buildings were identified and their details research in-depth. In order to discover the successful seismic retrofitting techniques, two case studies of retrofitted historical buildings located in Christchurch, New Zealand i.e. Orion’s URM substations and an iconic Heritage Hotel (aka Old Government Building) was conducted by investigating and evaluating the earthquake performance of the seismic retrofitting technique applied on the buildings prior to the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes and their performance after the earthquakes sequence. The second part of the research reported in this thesis was directed with the primary aim of developing a cost-effective seismic retrofitting technique with minimal interference to the vintage clay-bricks URM buildings. Two retrofitting techniques, (i) near-surface mounted steel wire rope (NSM-SWR) with further investigation on URM wallettes to get deeper understanding the URM in-plane behaviour, and (ii) FRP anchor are reported in this research thesis.
A photograph of the rubble of the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. Scaffolding constructed around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst the rubble. In the background is a shipping container. A red sticker has been placed on the door to the Physics Building.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a hotel in the Christchurch central city. Cordon tape has been placed across the entrance to the hotel and USAR codes have been spray-painted on the footpath outside.
A photograph of a map used by emergency management personnel to inspect buildings after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The map is of central Christchurch. Almost all of the blocks outside four streets (Moorhouse Avenue, Oxford Terrace, Kilmore Street, and Barbadoes Street) have been highlighted in yellow. Latimer Square has also been highlighted. A message written at the top of the map reads, "Query pile checked by dogs".
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house in Christchurch. The bricks on the side of the house have crumbled and damaged the fence. A red sticker on the front window indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.