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Research Papers, Lincoln University

Natural hazards continue to have adverse effects on communities and households worldwide, accelerating research on proactively identifying and enhancing characteristics associated with resilience. Although resilience is often characterized as a return to normal, recent studies of postdisaster recovery have highlighted the ways in which new opportunities can emerge following disruption, challenging the status quo. Conversely, recovery and reconstruction may serve to reinforce preexisting social, institutional, and development pathways. Our understanding of these dynamics is limited however by the small number of practice examples, particularly for rural communities in developed nations. This study uses a social–ecological inventory to document the drivers, pathways, and mechanisms of resilience following a large-magnitude earthquake in Kaikōura, a coastal community in Aotearoa New Zealand. As part of the planning and implementation phase of a multiyear project, we used the tool as the basis for indepth and contextually sensitive analysis of rural resilience. Moreover, the deliberate application of social–ecological inventory was the first step in the research team reengaging with the community following the event. The inventory process provided an opportunity for research partners to share their stories and experiences and develop a shared understanding of changes that had taken place in the community. Results provide empirical insight into reactions to disruptive change associated with disasters. The inventory also informed the design of targeted research collaborations, established a platform for longer-term community engagement, and provides a baseline for assessing longitudinal changes in key resilience-related characteristics and community capacities. Findings suggest the utility of social–ecological inventory goes beyond natural resource management, and that it may be appropriate in a range of contexts where institutional, social, and economic restructuring have developed out of necessity in response to felt or anticipated external stressors.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

The former Government Life building in Christchurch's Cathedral Square will be demolished. On my walk around the city May 21, 2014 Christchurch New Zealand. www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christch...

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Christopher Hill, Ambassador from the University of Denver, among other attendees of the 2011 United States New Zealand Partnership Forum standing outside the Christchurch Art Gallery shortly after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Christopher Hill, Ambassador from the University of Denver, among other attendees of the 2011 United States New Zealand Partnership Forum standing outside the Christchurch Art Gallery shortly after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Christopher Hill, Ambassador from the University of Denver, among other attendees of the 2011 United States New Zealand Partnership Forum standing outside the Christchurch Art Gallery shortly after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue breaking through the floor of a building which was severely damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Christopher Hill, Ambassador from the University of Denver, among other attendees of the 2011 United States New Zealand Partnership Forum standing outside the Christchurch Art Gallery shortly after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue breaking through the floor of a building which was severely damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Christopher Hill, Ambassador from the University of Denver, among other attendees of the 2011 United States New Zealand Partnership Forum standing outside the Christchurch Art Gallery shortly after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

he 2016 Building (Earthquake Prone Building) Amendment Act aims to improve the system for managing earthquake-prone buildings. The proposed changes to the Act were precipitated by the Canterbury earthquakes, and the need to improve the seismic safety of New Zealand’s building stock. However, the Act has significant ramifications for territorial authorities, organisations and individuals in small New Zealand towns, since assessing and repairing heritage buildings poses a major cost to districts with low populations and poor rental returns on commercial buildings.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and the New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue, breaking through the floor of a building which was severely damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

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.

Research Papers, Lincoln University

We examined the stratigraphy of alluvial fans formed at the steep range front of the Southern Alps at Te Taho, on the north bank of the Whataroa River in central West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. The range front coincides with the Alpine Fault, an Australian-Pacific plate boundary fault, which produces regular earthquakes. Our study of range front fans revealed aggradation at 100- to 300-year intervals. Radiocarbon ages and soil residence times (SRTs) estimated by a quantitative profile development index allowed us to elucidate the characteristics of four episodes of aggradation since 1000 CE. We postulate a repeating mode of fan behaviour (fan response cycle [FRC]) linked to earthquake cycles via earthquake-triggered landslides. FRCs are characterised by short response time (aggradation followed by incision) and a long phase when channels are entrenched and fan surfaces are stable (persistence time). Currently, the Te Taho and Whataroa River fans are in the latter phase. The four episodes of fan building we determined from an OxCal sequence model correlate to Alpine Fault earthquakes (or other subsidiary events) and support prior landscape evolution studies indicating ≥M7.5 earthquakes as the main driver of episodic sedimentation. Our findings are consistent with other historic non-earthquake events on the West Coast but indicate faster responses than other earthquake sites in New Zealand and elsewhere where rainfall and stream gradients (the basis for stream power) are lower. Judging from the thickness of fan deposits and the short response times, we conclude that pastoral farming (current land-use) on the fans and probably across much of the Whataroa River fan would be impossible for several decades after a major earthquake. The sustainability of regional tourism and agriculture is at risk, more so because of the vulnerability of the single through road in the region (State Highway 6).

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A member of the New Zealand Fire Service adjusting his face mask at the base of the collapsed Canterbury Television Building on Madras Street. Behind him, emergency personnel are searching the rubble for trapped people.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of members of the New Zealand Police in high-visibility vests and hard hats walking down Barbadoes Street. In the distance, a dome of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament can be seen.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

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.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

After my visit at the hospital for physiotherapy on my hand I took a walk around the city on my way home. Demolition of the Victoria Square apartments February 12, 2014 Christchurch New Zealand. www.s...

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of workers and members of the Hutt City Emergency Response team and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue team posing for a photograph. The photograph was taken outside the United States headquarters in Latimer Square.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Attendees of the 2011 United States New Zealand Partnership Forum sitting outside the Christchurch Art Gallery shortly after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. One of the attendees has a blue plaster over the bridge of his nose.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a police officer standing on the intersection between Park Terrace and Gloucester Street. In the background a member of the New Zealand Army can be seen in front of a line of road cones.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue Team in front of a collapsed house in the Christchurch central city. In the background, the Newstalk ZB Building can be seen.