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Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Unrestrained unreinforced clay brick masonry (URM) parapets are found atop a large number of vintage URM buildings. Parapets are typically non-structural cantilevered wall elements that form a fire barrier and in most cases form decorative and ornamental features of vintage URM buildings. Parapets are considered to be one of the most vulnerable elements that are prone to out-of-plane collapse when subjected to earthquake induced shaking. An in-depth analysis of the damage database collected following the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes was performed to obtain information about the distribution, characteristics and observed performance of both the as-built and retrofitted parapets in the Christchurch region. Results, statistical interpretation and implications are presented herein. http://www.aees.org.au/downloads/conference-papers/2015-2/

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

An UnReinforced clay brick Masonry (URM) chimney is composed of a cantilever URM appendage above a roofline and is considered one of the most earthquake prone non-structural compo¬nents within vintage URM and timber-framed buildings. Observations from past earthquakes including the 1992 Big Bear City earthquake, 1994 Northridge earthquake, 2001 Nisqually earthquake, 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes, 2012 Northern Italy earthquakes, and 2014 South Napa earthquake served repeatedly as a reminder of the hazard induced by URM chimneys. The observed failure types included several cases where the adopted retrofit techniques were not adequate to effectively secure chimneys dur¬ing the earthquake. Data collected during the 2010/2011 post-earthquake building assessments in Christchurch and insur¬ance claims are reported herein. Five full-scale solid clay brick URM chimneys which replicated the most encountered geometrical and construction characteristics were subjected to shake table testing. Two chim¬ney samples were representative of the as-built conditions, while three samples were retrofitted using two different configurations of Near-Surface-Mounted (NSM) Carbon-Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer (CFRP) strips and post-tensioning techniques. The adopted securing techniques allowed an increase in seismic acceleration capacity of more than five times for chimneys constructed with ultra-weak mortar and more than twice for chimneys built with weak mortar. http://www.16ibmac.com/

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Seismic retrofitting of unreinforced masonry buildings using posttensioning has been the topic of many recent experimental research projects. However, the performance of such retrofit designs in actual design level earthquakes has previously been poorly documented. In 1984 two stone masonry buildings within The Arts Centre of Christchurch received posttensioned seismic retrofits, which were subsequently subjected to design level seismic loads during the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence. These 26 year old retrofits were part of a global scheme to strengthen and secure the historic building complex and were subject to considerable budgetary constraints. Given the limited resources available at the time of construction and the current degraded state of the steel posttension tendons, the posttensioned retrofits performed well in preventing major damage to the overall structure of the two buildings in the Canterbury earthquakes. When compared to other similar unretrofitted structures within The Arts Centre, it is demonstrated that the posttensioning significantly improved the in-plane and out-of-plane wall strength and the ability to limit residual wall displacements. The history of The Arts Centre buildings and the details of the Canterbury earthquakes is discussed, followed by examination of the performance of the posttension retrofits and the suitability of this technique for future retrofitting of other historic unreinforced masonry buildings. http://www.aees.org.au/downloads/conference-papers/2013-2/

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The Canterbury earthquake series of 2010/2011 has turned the city of Christchurch into a full scale natural laboratory testing the structural and non-structural response of buildings under moderate to very severe earthquake shaking. The lessons learned from this, which have come at great cost socially and economically, are extremely valuable in increasing our understanding of whole building performance in severe earthquakes. Given current initiatives underway on both sides of the Tasman towards developing joint Australasian steel and composite steel/concrete design and construction standards that would span a very wide range of geological conditions and seismic zones, these lessons are relevant to both countries. This paper focusses on the performance of steel framed buildings in Christchurch city, with greatest emphasis on multi-storey buildings, but also covering single storey steel framed buildings and light steel framed housing. It addresses such issues as the magnitude and structural impact of the earthquake series, importance of good detailing, lack of observed column base hinging, the excellent performance of composite floors and it will briefly cover research underway to quantify some of these effects for use in design.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

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

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Five years after the devastating series of earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, the structural engineering community is now focussing on low damage design by either proactively reducing the possibility of significant damage to primary steel members (i.e. developing seismic resisting systems that will deliver a high damage threshold in severe earthquakes) or by improved detailing of the primary steel members for rapid replacement. This paper presents a development of Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBFs) with replaceable active links. It uses the bolted flange- and web splicing concept to connect the active link to the collector beam or column. Finite element analyses have been performed to investigate the behaviour and reliability of EBFs with this new type replaceable active link. The results show a stable hysteretic behaviour and more significantly easier replacement of the damaged active link in comparison with conventional EBFs.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Perimeter Moment resisting steel frames (PMRSFs) are a commonly used seismic resisting system, placed around the perimeter of the building for maximum torsional stiffness. They are typically designed as “strong column weak beam” systems with fixed column bases. When subjected to severe earthquake demand, sufficient to push the beams into the inelastic range, it is expected that plastic hinging at the column bases will occur. However, the response of PMRSF systems to the severe 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake series did not generate column base hinging in systems which exhibited beam yielding.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Case study unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings that were seismically retrofitted prior to the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquake sequence and exhibited successful performance during these earthquakes are presented herein. Selected buildings were divided into the following categories based on size and complexity: (1) simple, single storey box type buildings (i.e. electrical substations), (2) common and simple commercial buildings, and (3) large and complex clay brick and stone URM buildings. The retrofitted case study URM buildings were evaluated based on overall structural seismic performance as well as the categories of initial seismic design, heritage preservation, architectural appeal, and cost. Detailed observations of 4 representative case study buildings and a summary of findings are reported herein. http://db.nzsee.org.nz/2017/Orals.htm

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Many large-scale earthquakes all over the world have highlighted the impact of soil liquefaction to the built environment, but the scale of liquefaction-induced damage experienced in Christchurch and surrounding areas following the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence (CES) was unparalleled, especially in terms of impact to an urban area. The short time interval between the large earthquakes presented a very rare occasion to examine liquefaction mechanism in natural deposits. The re-liquefaction experienced by the city highlighted the high liquefaction susceptibility of soil deposits in Christchurch, and presented a very challenging problem not only to the local residents but to the geotechnical engineering profession. This paper summarises the lessons learned from CES, and the impacts of the observations made to the current practice of liquefaction assessment and mitigation.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

In September 2010 and February 2011 the Canterbury region of New Zealand was struck by two powerful earthquakes, registering magnitude 7.1 and 6.3 respectively on the Richter scale. The second earthquake was centred 10 kilometres south-east of the centre of Christchurch (the region’s capital and New Zealand’s third most populous urban area, with approximately 360,000 residents) at a depth of five kilometres. 185 people were killed, making it the second deadliest natural disaster in New Zealand’s history. (66 people were killed in the collapse of one building alone, the six-storey Canterbury Television building.) The earthquake occurred during the lunch hour, increasing the number of people killed on footpaths and in buses and cars by falling debris. In addition to the loss of life, the earthquake caused catastrophic damage to both land and buildings in Christchurch, particularly in the central business district. Many commercial and residential buildings collapsed in the tremors; others were damaged through soil liquefaction and surface flooding. Over 1,000 buildings in the central business district were eventually demolished because of safety concerns, and an estimated 70,000 people had to leave the city after the earthquakes because their homes were uninhabitable. The New Zealand Government declared a state of national emergency, which stayed in force for ten weeks. In 2014 the Government estimated that the rebuild process would cost NZ$40 billion (approximately US$27.3 billion, a cost equivalent to 17% of New Zealand’s annual GDP). Economists now estimate it could take the New Zealand economy between 50 and 100 years to recover. The earthquakes generated tens of thousands of insurance claims, both against private home insurance companies and against the New Zealand Earthquake Commission, a government-owned statutory body which provides primary natural disaster insurance to residential property owners in New Zealand. These ranged from claims for hundreds of millions of dollars concerning the local port and university to much smaller claims in respect of the thousands of residential homes damaged. Many of these insurance claims resulted in civil proceedings, caused by disputes about policy cover, the extent of the damage and the cost and/or methodology of repairs, as well as failures in communication and delays caused by the overwhelming number of claims. Disputes were complicated by the fact that the Earthquake Commission provides primary insurance cover up to a monetary cap, with any additional costs to be met by the property owner’s private insurer. Litigation funders and non-lawyer claims advocates who took a percentage of any insurance proceeds also soon became involved. These two factors increased the number of parties involved in any given claim and introduced further obstacles to resolution. Resolving these disputes both efficiently and fairly was (and remains) central to the rebuild process. This created an unprecedented challenge for the justice system in Christchurch (and New Zealand), exacerbated by the fact that the Christchurch High Court building was itself damaged in the earthquakes, with the Court having to relocate to temporary premises. (The High Court hears civil claims exceeding NZ$200,000 in value (approximately US$140,000) or those involving particularly complex issues. Most of the claims fell into this category.) This paper will examine the response of the Christchurch High Court to this extraordinary situation as a case study in innovative judging practices and from a jurisprudential perspective. In 2011, following the earthquakes, the High Court made a commitment that earthquake-related civil claims would be dealt with as swiftly as the Court's resources permitted. In May 2012, it commenced a special “Earthquake List” to manage these cases. The list (which is ongoing) seeks to streamline the trial process, resolve quickly claims with precedent value or involving acute personal hardship or large numbers of people, facilitate settlement and generally work proactively and innovatively with local lawyers, technical experts and other stakeholders. For example, the Court maintains a public list (in spreadsheet format, available online) with details of all active cases before the Court, listing the parties and their lawyers, summarising the facts and identifying the legal issues raised. It identifies cases in which issues of general importance have been or will be decided, with the expressed purpose being to assist earthquake litigants and those contemplating litigation and to facilitate communication among parties and lawyers. This paper will posit the Earthquake List as an attempt to implement innovative judging techniques to provide efficient yet just legal processes, and which can be examined from a variety of jurisprudential perspectives. One of these is as a case study in the well-established debate about the dialogic relationship between public decisions and private settlement in the rule of law. Drawing on the work of scholars such as Hazel Genn, Owen Fiss, David Luban, Carrie Menkel-Meadow and Judith Resnik, it will explore the tension between the need to develop the law through the doctrine of precedent and the need to resolve civil disputes fairly, affordably and expeditiously. It will also be informed by the presenter’s personal experience of the interplay between reported decisions and private settlement in post-earthquake Christchurch through her work mediating insurance disputes. From a methodological perspective, this research project itself gives rise to issues suitable for discussion at the Law and Society Annual Meeting. These include the challenges in empirical study of judges, working with data collected by the courts and statistical analysis of the legal process in reference to settlement. September 2015 marked the five-year anniversary of the first Christchurch earthquake. There remains widespread dissatisfaction amongst Christchurch residents with the ongoing delays in resolving claims, particularly insurers, and the rebuild process. There will continue to be challenges in Christchurch for years to come, both from as-yet unresolved claims but also because of the possibility of a new wave of claims arising from poor quality repairs. Thus, a final purpose of presenting this paper at the 2016 Meeting is to gain the benefit of other scholarly perspectives and experiences of innovative judging best practice, with a view to strengthening and improving the judicial processes in Christchurch. This Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association in New Orleans is a particularly appropriate forum for this paper, given the recent ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the plenary session theme of “Natural and Unnatural Disasters – human crises and law’s response.” The presenter has a personal connection with this theme, as she was a Fulbright scholar from New Zealand at New York University in 2005/2006 and participated in the student volunteer cleanup effort in New Orleans following Katrina. http://www.lawandsociety.org/NewOrleans2016/docs/2016_Program.pdf

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The Evaluating Maternity Units (EMU) study is a mixed method project involving a prospective cohort study, surveys (two postnatal questionnaires) and focus groups. It is an Australasian project funded by the Australian Health and Medical Research Council. Its primary aim was to compare the birth outcomes of two groups of well women – one group who planned to give birth at a primary maternity unit, and a second group who planned to give birth at a tertiary hospital. The secondary aim was to learn about women’s views and experiences regarding their birthplace decision-making, transfer, maternity care and experiences, and any other issues they raised. The New Zealand arm of the study was carried out in Christchurch, and was seriously affected by the earthquakes, halting recruitment at 702 participants. Comprehensive details were collected from both midwives and women regarding antenatal and early labour changes of birthplace plans and perinatal transfers from the primary units to the tertiary hospital. Women were asked about how they felt about plan changes and transfers in the first survey, and they were discussed in some focus groups. The transfer findings are still being analysed and will be presented. This study is set within the local maternity context, is recent, relevant and robust. It provides midwives with contemporary information about transfers from New Zealand primary maternity units and women’s views and experiences. It may help inform the conversations midwives have with each other, and with women and their families/whānau, regarding the choices of birthplace for well childbearing women.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

INTRODUCTION: There is little research on the role of creative arts and craft in disaster recovery. This article reports findings about the emergent role of crafting from research conducted after the 2010–2011 series of earthquakes in Christchurch and surrounding districts in Aotearoa New Zealand. In particular, the article focuses on the significance and differing interpretations of the notion of place expressed by participants through their craftwork, in this case led by women and mediated by the post-earthquake geographic and temporal context. METHOD: This qualitative research included nine individual interviews and five focus group interviews with crafters from Christchurch and surrounding districts. There were 35 participants in total, 33 were women. Applied thematic analysis was used to code the data and identify themes. These themes included connection to place, the symbolism of craft, the healing experience of craft groups and places for women. The notion of place was evident across all three themes. FINDINGS: The findings from the research demonstrate differing ways in which the significance of place was reflected in the craftwork. Participants interpreted the concept of place in descriptive, symbolic, and therapeutic ways. IMPLICATIONS: More understanding about the way creative endeavours like crafting can be used to help ameliorate the impact of natural disasters is needed. Social work practitioners are encouraged to explore place-based wellbeing during their work with service users and to include aspects of artistry, craft and creativity.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Welcome to the Recover newsletter Issue 2 from the Marine Ecology Research Group (MERG) at the University of Canterbury. Recover is designed to keep you updated on our MBIE funded earthquake recovery project called RECOVER (Reef Ecology, Coastal Values & Earthquake Recovery). This second issue profiles some of the recent work done by our team out in the field!

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Earthquake-triggered soil liquefaction caused extensive damage and heavy economic losses in Christchurch during the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. The most severe manifestations of liquefaction were associated with the presence of natural deposits of clean sands and silty sands of fluvial origin. However, liquefaction resistance of fines-containing sands is commonly inferred from empirical relationships based on clean sands (i.e. sands with less than 5% fines). Hence, existing evaluation methods have poor accuracy when applied to silty sands. The liquefaction behaviour of Christchurch fines-containing (silty) sands is investigated through a series of Direct Simple Shear (DSS) tests. This type of test better resembles earthquake loading conditions in soil deposits compared to cyclic triaxial tests. Soil specimens are reconstituted in the laboratory with the water sedimentation technique. This preparation method yields soil fabrics similar to those encountered in fluvial soil deposits, which are common in the Christchurch area. Test results provide preliminary indications on how void ratio, relative density, preparation method and fines content influence the cyclic liquefaction behaviour of sand-silt mixtures depending on the properties of host sand and silt.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

In the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes, one of the biggest threats to our heritage buildings is the risk of earthquakes and the associated drive to strengthen or demolish buildings. Can Small Town NZ balance the requirements of the EQPB legislation and economic realities of their places? The government’s priority is on safety of building occupants and citizens in the streets. However, maintaining and strengthening privately-owned heritage buildings is often cost prohibitive. Hence, heritage regulation has frequently been perceived as interfering with private property rights, especially when heritage buildings occupy a special place in the community becoming an important place for people (i.e. public benefits are larger than private). We investigate several case studies where building owners have been given green light to demolish heritage listed buildings to make way for modern developments. In two of the case studies developers provided evidence of unaffordable strengthening costs. A new trend that has emerged is a voluntary offer of contributing to an incentive fund to assist with heritage preservation of other buildings. This is a unique example where private owners offer incentives (via council controlled organisations) instead of it being purely the domain of the central or local governments.

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

Well-validated liquefaction constitutive models are increasingly important as non-linear time history analyses become relatively more common in industry for key projects. Previous validation efforts of PM4Sand, a plasticity model specifically for liquefaction, have generally focused on centrifuge tests; however, pore pressure transducers installed at several free-field sites during the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) in Christchurch, New Zealand provide a relatively unique dataset to validate against. This study presents effective stress site response analyses performed in the finite difference software FLAC to examine the capability of PM4Sand to capture the generation of excess pore pressures during earthquakes. The characterization of the subsurface is primarily based on extensive cone penetration tests (CPT) carried out in Christchurch. Correlations based on penetration resistances are used to estimate soil parameters, such as relative density and shear wave velocity, which affect liquefaction behaviour. The resulting free-field FLAC model is used to estimate time histories of excess pore pressure, which are compared with records during several earthquakes in the CES to assess the suitability of PM4Sand.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

A large number of businesses that used to be in the centre of Christchurch relocated after the earthquakes. Are they satisfied with their new locations and do they intend to return to the central city? We questioned 209 relocated businesses about their relocation history, present circumstances and future intentions. Many businesses were content with their new premises, despite having encountered a range of problems; those businesses that were questioned later in our survey period were more content. The average business in our sample rated the chances of moving back to the central city as around 50 %, but this varies with the type of business. Building height did not emerge as a major issue, but rents may be. The mix of types of business is likely to be different in the new city centre.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Buildings subject to earthquake shaking will tend to move not only horizontally but also rotate in plan. In-plan rotation is known as “building torsion” and it may occur for a variety of reasons, including stiffness and strength eccentricity and/or torsional effects from ground motions. Methods to consider torsion in structural design standards generally involve analysis of the structure in its elastic state. This is despite the fact that the structural elements can yield, thereby significantly altering the building response and the structural element demands. If demands become too large, the structure may collapse. While a number of studies have been conducted into the behavior of structures considering inelastic building torsion, there appears to be no consensus that one method is better than another and as a result, provisions within current design standards have not adopted recent proposals in the literature. However, the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission recently made the recommendation that provisions to account for inelastic torsional response of buildings be introduced within New Zealand building standards. Consequently, this study examines how and to what extent the torsional response due to system eccentricity may affect the seismic performance of a building and considers what a simple design method should account for. It is concluded that new methods should be simple, be applicable to both the elastic and inelastic range of response, consider bidirectional excitation and include guidance for multi-story systems.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Despite the relatively low seismicity, a large earthquake in the Waikato region is expected to have a high impact, when the fourth-largest regional population and economy and the high density critical infrastructure systems in this region are considered. Furthermore, Waikato has a deep soft sedimentary basin, which increases the regional seismic hazard due to trapping and amplification of seismic waves and generation of localized surface waves within the basin. This phenomenon is known as the “Basin Effect”, and has been attributed to the increased damage in several historic earthquakes, including the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. In order to quantitatively model the basin response and improve the understanding of regional seismic hazard, geophysical methods will be used to develop shear wave velocity profiles across the Waikato basin. Active surface wave methods involve the deployment of linear arrays of geophones to record the surface waves generated by a sledge hammer. Passive surface wave methods involve the deployment of two-dimensional seismometer arrays to record ambient vibrations. At each site, the planned testing includes one active test and two to four passive arrays. The obtained data are processed to develop dispersion curves, which describe surface wave propagation velocity as a function of frequency (or wavelength). Dispersion curves are then inverted using the Geopsy software package to develop a suite of shear wave velocity profiles. Currently, more than ten sites in Waikato are under consideration for this project. This poster presents the preliminary results from the two sites that have been tested. The shear wave velocity profiles from all sites will be used to produce a 3D velocity model for the Waikato basin, a part of QuakeCoRE flagship programme 1.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand was severe and extensive, and data regarding the displacements associated with the lateral spreading provides an excellent opportunity to better understand the factors that influence these movements. Horizontal displacements measured from optical satellite imagery and subsurface data from the New Zealand Geotechnical Database (NZGD) were used to investigate four distinct lateral spread areas along the Avon River in Christchurch. These areas experienced displacements between 0.5 and 2 m, with the inland extent of displacement ranging from 100 m to over 600 m. Existing empirical and semi-empirical displacement models tend to under estimate displacements at some sites and over estimate at others. The integrated datasets indicate that the areas with more severe and spatially extensive displacements are associated with thicker and more laterally continuous deposits of liquefiable soil. In some areas, the inland extent of displacements is constrained by geologic boundaries and geomorphic features, as expressed by distinct topographic breaks. In other areas the extent of displacement is influenced by the continuity of liquefiable strata or by the presence of layers that may act as vertical seepage barriers. These observations demonstrate the need to integrate geologic/geomorphic analyses with geotechnical analyses when assessing the potential for lateral spreading movements.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Results from a series of 1D seismic effective stress analyses of natural soil deposits from Christchurch are summarized. The analysed soil columns include sites whose performance during the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes varied significantly, from no liquefaction manifestation at the ground surface to very severe liquefaction, in which case a large area of the site was covered by thick soil ejecta. Key soil profile characteristics and response mechanisms affecting the severity of surface liquefaction manifestation and subsequent damage are explored. The influence of shaking intensity on the triggering and contribution of these mechanisms is also discussed. Careful examination of the results highlights the importance of considering the deposit as a whole, i.e. a system of layers, including interactions between layers in the dynamic response and through pore water pressure redistribution and water flow.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Tsunami events including the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami confirmed the need for Pacific-wide comprehensive risk mitigation and effective tsunami evacuation planning. New Zealand is highly exposed to tsunamis and continues to invest in tsunami risk awareness, readiness and response across the emergency management and science sectors. Evacuation is a vital risk reduction strategy for preventing tsunami casualties. Understanding how people respond to warnings and natural cues is an important element to improving evacuation modelling techniques. The relative rarity of tsunami events locally in Canterbury and also globally, means there is limited knowledge on tsunami evacuation behaviour, and tsunami evacuation planning has been largely informed by hurricane evacuations. This research aims to address this gap by analysing evacuation behaviour and movements of Kaikōura and Southshore/New Brighton (coastal suburb of Christchurch) residents following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Stage 1 of the research is engaging with both these communities and relevant hazard management agencies, using a survey and community workshops to understand real-event evacuation behaviour during the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and subsequent tsunami evacuations. The second stage is using the findings from stage 1 to inform an agent-based tsunami evacuation model, which is an approach that simulates of the movement of people during an evacuation response. This method improves on other evacuation modelling approaches to estimate evacuation times due to better representation of local population characteristics. The information provided by the communities will inform rules and interactions such as traffic congestion, evacuation delay times and routes taken to develop realistic tsunami evacuation models. This will allow emergency managers to more effectively prepare communities for future tsunami events, and will highlight recommended actions to increase the safety and efficiency of future tsunami evacuations.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This paper presents the preliminary conclusions of the first stage of Wellington Case Study project (Regulating For Resilience in an Earthquake Vulnerable City) being undertaken by the Disaster Law Research Group at the University of Canterbury Law School. This research aims to map the current regulatory environment around improving the seismic resilience of the urban built environment. This work provides the basis for the second stage of the project which will map the regulatory tools onto the reality of the current building stock in Wellington. Using a socio-legal methodology, the current research examines the regulatory framework around seismic resilience for existing buildings in New Zealand, with a particularly focus on multi-storey in the Wellington CBD. The work focusses both on the operation and impact of the formal seismic regulatory tools open to public regulators (under the amended Building Act) as other non-seismic regulatory tools. As well as examining the formal regulatory frame, the work also provides an assessment of the interactions between other non-building acts (such as Health and Safety at Work Act 2015) on the requirements of seismic resilience. Other soft-law developments (particularly around informal building standards) are also examined. The final output of this work will presents this regulatory map in a clear and easily accessible manner and provide an assessment of the suitability of this at times confusing and patchy legal environment as Wellington moves towards becoming a resilient city. The final conclusion of this work will be used to specifically examine the ability of Wellington to make this transition under the current regulatory environment as phase two of the Wellington Case Study project.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

On 15 August 1868, a great earthquake struck off the coast of the Chile-Peru border generating a tsunami that travelled across the Pacific. Wharekauri-Rekohu-Chatham Islands, located 800 km east of Christchurch, Aotearoa-New Zealand (A-NZ) was one of the worst affected locations in A-NZ. Tsunami waves, including three over 6 metres high, injured and killed people, destroyed buildings and infrastructure, and impacted the environment, economy and communities. While experience of disasters, and advancements in disaster risk reduction systems and technology have all significantly advanced A-NZ’s capacity to be ready for and respond to future earthquakes and tsunami, social memory of this event and other tsunamis during our history has diminished. In 2018, a team of scientists, emergency managers and communication specialists collaborated to organise a memorial event on the Chatham Islands and co-ordinate a multi-agency media campaign to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Arica tsunami. The purpose was to raise awareness of the disaster and to encourage preparedness for future tsunami. Press releases and science stories were distributed widely by different media outlets and many attended the memorial event indicating public interest for commemorating historical disasters. We highlight the importance of commemorating disaster anniversaries through memorial events, to raise awareness of historical disasters and increase community preparedness for future events – “lest we forget and let us learn.”

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

In this paper we apply Full waveform tomography (FWT) based on the Adjoint-Wavefield (AW) method to iteratively invert a 3-D geophysical velocity model for the Canterbury region (Lee, 2017) from a simple initial model. The seismic wavefields was generated using numerical solution of the 3-D elastodynamic/ visco- elastodynamic equations (EMOD3D was adopted (Graves, 1996)), and through the AW method, gradients of model parameters (compression and shear wave velocity) were computed by implementing the cross-adjoint of forward and backward wavefields. The reversed-in-time displacement residual was utilized as the adjoint source. For inversion, we also account for the near source/ station effects, gradient precondition, smoothening (Gaussian filter in spatial domain) and optimal step length. Simulation-to-observation misfit measurements based on 191 sources at 78 seismic stations in the Canterbury region (Figure 1) were used into our inversion. The inversion process includes multiple frequency bands, starting from 0-0.05Hz, and advancing to higher frequency bands (0-0.1Hz and 0-0.2Hz). Each frequency band was used for up to 10 iterations or no optimal step length found. After 3 FWT inversion runs, the simulated seismograms computed using our final model show a good matching with the observed seismograms at frequencies from 0 - 0.2 Hz and the normalized least-squared misfit error has been significantly reduced. Over all, the synthetic study of FWT shows a good application to improve the crustal velocity models from the existed geological models and the seismic data of the different earthquake events happened in the Canterbury region.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Validation is an essential step to assess the applicability of simulated ground motions for utilization in engineering practice, and a comprehensive analysis should include both simple intensity measures (PGA, SA, etc), as well as the seismic response of a range of complex systems obtained by response history analysis. In order to enable a spectrum of complex structural systems to be considered in systematic validation of ground motion simulations in a routine fashion, an automated workflow was developed. Such a workflow enables validation of simulated ground motions in terms of different complex model responses by considering various ground motion sets and different ground motion simulation methods. The automated workflow converts the complex validation process into a routine one by providing a platform to perform the validation process promptly as a built-in process of simulation post-processing. As a case study, validation of simulated ground motions was investigated via the automated workflow by comparing the dynamic responses of three steel special moment frame (SMRF) subjected to the 40 observed and 40 simulated ground motions of 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The seismic responses of the structures are principally quantified via the peak floor acceleration and maximum inter-storey drift ratio. Overall, the results indicate a general agreement in seismic demands obtained using the recorded and simulated ensembles of ground motions and provide further evidence that simulated ground motions can be used in code-based structural performance assessments in-place of, or in combination with, ensembles of recorded ground motions.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The purpose of this research is to investigate men’s experiences of the 2016 7.8 magnitude Kaikōura earthquake and Tsunami. While, research into the impacts of the earthquake has been conducted, few studies have examined how gender shaped people’s experiences of this natural hazard event. Analysing disasters through a gender lens has significantly contributed to disaster scholarship in identifying the resilience and vulnerabilities of individuals and communities pre- and post-disaster (Fordham, 2012; Bradshaw, 2013). This research employs understandings of masculinities (Connell, 2005), to examine men’s strengths and challenges in responding, recovering, and coping following the earthquake. Qualitative inquiry was carried out in Northern Canterbury and Marlborough involving 18 face-to-face interviews with men who were impacted by the Kaikōura earthquake and its aftermath. Interview material is being analysed using thematic and narrative analysis. Some of the preliminary findings have shown that men took on voluntary roles in addition to their fulltime paid work resulting in long hours, poor sleep and little time spent with family. Some men assisted wives and children to high ground then drove into the tsunami zone to check on relatives or to help evacuate people. Although analysis of the findings is currently ongoing, preliminary findings have identified that the men who participated in the study have been negatively impacted by the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. A theme identified amongst participants was an avoidance to seek support with the challenges they were experiencing due to the earthquake. The research findings align with key characteristics of masculinity, including demonstrating risky behaviours and neglecting self or professional care. This study suggests that these behaviours affect men’s overall resilience, and thus the resilience of the wider community.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The purpose of this research is to investigate men’s experiences of the 2016 7.8 magnitude Kaikōura earthquake and Tsunami. While, research into the impacts of the earthquake has been conducted, few studies have examined how gender shaped people’s experiences of this natural hazard event. Analysing disasters through a gender lens has significantly contributed to disaster scholarship in identifying the resilience and vulnerabilities of individuals and communities pre- and post-disaster (Fordham, 2012; Bradshaw, 2013). This research employs understandings of masculinities (Connell, 2005), to examine men’s strengths and challenges in responding, recovering, and coping following the earthquake. Qualitative inquiry was carried out in Northern Canterbury and Marlborough involving 18 face-to-face interviews with men who were impacted by the Kaikōura earthquake and its aftermath. Interview material is being analysed using thematic and narrative analysis. Some of the preliminary findings have shown that men took on voluntary roles in addition to their fulltime paid work resulting in long hours, poor sleep and little time spent with family. Some men assisted wives and children to high ground then drove into the tsunami zone to check on relatives or to help evacuate people. Although analysis of the findings is currently ongoing, preliminary findings have identified that the men who participated in the study have been negatively impacted by the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. A theme identified amongst participants was an avoidance to seek support with the challenges they were experiencing due to the earthquake. The research findings align with key characteristics of masculinity, including demonstrating risky behaviours and neglecting self or professional care. This study suggests that these behaviours affect men’s overall resilience, and thus the resilience of the wider community.