A photograph of members of the New Zealand Police and Army guarding a cordon on the corner of Gloucester Street and Park Terrace.
This study explores the role and value of urban community gardens following a major crisis: the 2010/11 earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand.
A photograph of members of the Dog Section of the New Zealand Police at the site of an earthquake-damaged building in central Christchurch.
A photograph of the Cotter & Co. building behind wire fencing on High Street. The building formerly housed The National Gallery and New Zealand Tattoo.
A photograph of the Cotter & Co. building behind wire fencing on High Street. The building formerly housed The National Gallery and New Zealand Tattoo.
A press release from the Office of the Press Secretary in the US White House about President Obama's call to Prime Minister John Key to express his condolences over the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch and to offer American assistance.
A video about the New Zealand Army testing the quality of water across Christchurch. After the 4 September 2010 earthquake, the NZ Army developed ties with the Canterbury District Health Board. This relationship continued after the 22 February 2011 earthquake with the NZ Army taking on the role of examining Christchurch's water quality.
A press release from the United States of America Embassy New Zealand containing a statement by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate regarding the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch.
This paper shows an understanding of the availability of resources in post-disaster reconstruction and recovery in Christchurch, New Zealand following its September 4, 2010 and February 22, 2011 earthquakes. Overseas experience in recovery demonstrates how delays and additional costs may incur if the availability of resources is not aligned with the reconstruction needs. In the case of reconstruction following Christchurch earthquakes, access to normal resource levels will be insufficient. An on-line questionnaire survey, combined with in-depth interviews was used to collect data from the construction professionals that had been participated in the post-earthquake reconstruction. The study identified the resources that are subject to short supply and resourcing challenges that are currently faced by the construction industry. There was a varied degree of impacts felt by the surveyed organisations from resource shortages. Resource pressures were primarily concentrated on human resources associated with structural, architectural and land issues. The challenges that may continue playing out in the longer-term reconstruction of Christchurch include limited capacity of the construction industry, competition for skills among residential, infrastructure and commercial sectors, and uncertainties with respect to decision making. Findings provide implications informing the ongoing recovery and rebuild in New Zealand. http://www.iiirr.ucalgary.ca/Conference-2012
Damage distribution maps from strong earthquakes and recorded data from field experiments have repeatedly shown that the ground surface topography and subsurface stratigraphy play a decisive role in shaping the ground motion characteristics at a site. Published theoretical studies qualitatively agree with observations from past seismic events and experiments; quantitatively, however, they systematically underestimate the absolute level of topographic amplification up to an order of magnitude or more in some cases. We have hypothesized in previous work that this discrepancy stems from idealizations of the geometry, material properties, and incident motion characteristics that most theoretical studies make. In this study, we perform numerical simulations of seismic wave propagation in heterogeneous media with arbitrary ground surface geometry, and compare results with high quality field recordings from a site with strong surface topography. Our goal is to explore whether high-fidelity simulations and realistic numerical models can – contrary to theoretical models – capture quantitatively the frequency and amplitude characteristics of topographic effects. For validation, we use field data from a linear array of nine portable seismometers that we deployed on Mount Pleasant and Heathcote Valley, Christchurch, New Zealand, and we compute empirical standard spectral ratios (SSR) and single-station horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR). The instruments recorded ambient vibrations and remote earthquakes for a period of two months (March-April 2017). We next perform two-dimensional wave propagation simulations using the explicit finite difference code FLAC. We construct our numerical model using a high-resolution (8m) Digital Elevation Map (DEM) available for the site, an estimated subsurface stratigraphy consistent with the geomorphology of the site, and soil properties estimated from in-situ and non-destructive tests. We subject the model to in-plane and out-of-plane incident motions that span a broadband frequency range (0.1-20Hz). Numerical and empirical spectral ratios from our blind prediction are found in very good quantitative agreement for stations on the slope of Mount Pleasant and on the surface of Heathcote Valley, across a wide range of frequencies that reveal the role of topography, soil amplification and basin edge focusing on the distribution of ground surface motion.
On 14 November 2016, a magnitude (Mw) 7.8 earthquake struck the small coastal settlement of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand. With an economy based on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, Kaikōura was immediately faced with significant logistical, economic, and social challenges caused by damage to critical infrastructure and lifelines, essential to its main industries. Massive landslips cut offroad and rail access, stranding hundreds of tourists, and halting the collection, processing and distribution of agricultural products. At the coast, the seabed rose two metres, limiting harbour-access to high tide, with implications for whale watching tours and commercial fisheries. Throughout the region there was significant damage to homes, businesses, and farmland, leaving owners and residents facing an uncertain future. This paper uses qualitative case study analysis to explore post-quake transformations in a rural context. The aim is to gain insight into the distinctive dynamics of disaster response mechanisms, focusing on two initiatives that have emerged in direct response to the disaster. The first examines the ways in which agriculture, food harvesting, production and distribution are being reimagined with the potential to enhance regional food security. The second examines the rescaling of power in decision-making processes following the disaster, specifically examining the ways in which rural actors are leveraging networks to meet their needs and the consequences of that repositioning on rural (and national) governance arrangements. In these and other ways, the local economy is being revitalised, and regional resilience enhanced through diversification, capitalising not on the disaster but the region's natural, social, and cultural capital. Drawing on insights and experience of local stakeholders, policy- and decision-makers, and community representatives we highlight the diverse ways in which these endeavours are an attempt to create something new, revealing also the barriers which needed to be overcome to reshape local livelihoods. Results reveal that the process of transformation as part of rural recovery must be grounded in the lived reality of local residents and their understanding of place, incorporating and building on regional social, environmental, and economic characteristics. In this, the need to respond rapidly to realise opportunities must be balanced with the community-centric approach, with greater recognition given to the contested nature of the decisions to be made. Insights from the case examples can inform preparedness and recovery planning elsewhere, and provide a rich, real-time example of the ways in which disasters can create opportunities for reimagining resilient futures.
The New Zealand Army Band perform an item at the memorial service held in Latimer Square on the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A member of the New Zealand Police with an injured man, rescued from the collapsed PGC building. The man's head has been wrapped in bandages.
Structural Engineers from the New Zealand and Los Angeles County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue teams outside the Kenton Chambers Building on Hereford Street.
A press release from the United States Embassy New Zealand containing a statement by Secretary Hilary Clinton about the 22 February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch.
A photograph of emergency management personnel inside a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules C-130. The aircraft is on the runway at Wellington airport.
A photograph of a police car parked outside the New Zealand Police kiosk in Cathedral Square. In the background, people are walking through Cathedral Square.
A photograph of a member of the New Zealand Police using a search dog to examine the rubble of the Caledonian Hall on Kilmore Street.
A photograph of emergency management personnel inside a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules C-130. The aircraft is on the runway at Wellington airport.
A photograph of the Cotter & Co. building on High Street, taken from Tuam Street. The building formerly housed The National Gallery and New Zealand Tattoo.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Cordon Patrols in Lyttelton". The image is of Captain Dean McDougall briefing AVM Pete Stockwell, the then commander of the New Zealand Joint Forces. To the left stands LTCDR Simon Rooke.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Earthquake!". The image is of sailors off loading food from the HMNZS Canterbury for the Lyttelton Community.
An image from a Army News March 2011 article titled, "Transport". The image shows South Island Operations Manager, Jeoff Barr, loading chemical toilets into a Unimog in Christchurch. The chemical toilets were delivered to residents in Christchurch who had been without water for ten days.
An image from a Army News March 2011 article titled, "Territorial Force". The image shows members of the Central and Lower North Island Territorial Units clearing silt from a resident's garden in east Christchurch. On the left is Private Quentin Chat of Taranaki, and Corporal Samuel Hatcher of Wellington is on the right.
An image from an Air Force News April 2011 article titled, "Helping Hand for Lyttelton Museum". The image depicts the damaged Lyttelton Museum with a broken top wall and wire fencing around the building.
An image from an Air Force News April 2011 article titled, "Helping Hand for Lyttelton Museum". In the image, four men from the Air Force Museum are carrying a model ship out of the museum.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Earthquake Hits Close to Home". The image depicts two Pukaki Offices, SLT Blair Sneddon and LT Dave Luhrs. Both offices had families in Christchurch during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Feeding the Multitudes". The image is of CPOCH Perrin Newland head chief of the HMNZS Canterbury which moored in Lyttelton after the 22 February 2011 earthquake, supplying meals to the Lyttelton community.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Earthquake!". The image is of the damaged Christchurch Cathedral seen from a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion the afternoon of the earthquake.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Earthquake!". The image is of the Time Ball Station in Lyttelton, photographed from the HMNZS Canterbury in the Lyttelton Harbour.