Alan Hoskin, a member of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team, in their temporary office in the James Hight building. The photographer comments, "First looks at our new temporary (maybe) office space. Our group will stay here until April or May 2011, then will move to another floor in the Central Library. Bean bag. Alan wanted the beanbag but Jess said no".
Overview of SeisFinder SeisFinder is an open-source web service developed by QuakeCoRE and the University of Canterbury, focused on enabling the extraction of output data from computationally intensive earthquake resilience calculations. Currently, SeisFinder allows users to select historical or future events and retrieve ground motion simulation outputs for requested geographical locations. This data can be used as input for other resilience calculations, such as dynamic response history analysis. SeisFinder was developed using Django, a high-level python web framework, and uses a postgreSQL database. Because our large-scale computationally-intensive numerical ground motion simulations produce big data, the actual data is stored in file systems, while the metadata is stored in the database. The basic SeisFinder architecture is shown in Figure 1.
We measure the longer-term effect of a major earthquake on the local economy, using night-time light intensity measured from space, and investigate whether insurance claim payments for damaged residential property affected the local recovery process. We focus on the destructive Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) 2010 -2011 as our case study. Uniquely for this event, more than 95% of residential housing units were covered by insurance, but insurance payments were staggered over 5 years, enabling us to identify their local impact. We find that night-time luminosity can capture the process of recovery and describe the recovery’s determinants. We also find that insurance payments contributed significantly to the process of economic recovery after the earthquake, but delayed payments were less affective and cash settlement of claims were more effective than insurance-managed repairs in contributing to local recovery.
This is a joint Resilience Framework undertaken by the Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering Department of the University of Auckland in association with West Power and Orion networks and partially funded by the New Zealand National Science Challenge and QuakeCoRE. The Energy- Communication research group nearly accomplished two different researches focusing on both asset resilience and system resilience. Asset resilience research which covers underground cables system in Christchurch region is entitled “2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence Impact on 11KV Underground Cables” and system resilience research which covers electricity distribution and communication system in West Coast region is entitled “NZ Electricity Distribution Network Resilience Assessment and Restoration Models following Major Natural Disturbance“. As the fourth milestone of the aforementioned research project, the latest outcome of both projects has been socialised with the stakeholders during the Cigre NZ 2019 Forum.
An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 21 October 2012 entitled, "Back by maternal demand".
Cracks in the roads and foot paths were surprisingly hard to find given the strength of the earthquake.
One of the many sand volcanos erupting from the ground after the Christchurch earthquake.
Cleaning up the silt and sand from Hoon Hay properties. Here Laura, Robbie, and Ronny are part of the clean-up crew on Wyn Street.
And, yes, the newspaper always gets through! The Press newspapers were delivered in our area of Hoon Hay in the hours after the earthquake.
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. In the foreground is Chris Whitty, Site Manager of the Christchurch Arts Centre.
A photograph of the largest section of the Townsend Telescope recovered from the rubble of the Observatory tower. The telescope was housed in the tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. It was severely damaged when the tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
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. 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 staff from the Department of Physics and Astronomy examining 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 around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst the rubble.
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. The roof of the tower and a ladder can also be seen.
A photograph of the base of the Townsend Telescope, still attached to a piece of rubble. The rubble is from the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake and the rubble spilled into the courtyard in front. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The top two storeys of the tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake and the rubble spilled into the courtyard in front. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. A tarpaulin has been draped over the top of the tower and the roof of the building behind.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The top two storeys of the tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake and the rubble spilled into the courtyard in front. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. A tarpaulin has been draped over the top of the broken tower and the roof behind.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The top two storeys of the tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake and the rubble spilled into the courtyard in front. A digger was used to clear the rubble away from the building. A tarpaulin has been draped over the top of the broken tower and the roof behind.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged suitcase in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The suitcase is resting on a pile of scaffolding which had been constructed around the Observatory tower. The scaffolding collapsed along with the tower during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of rubble from the Observatory tower in the South Quad of the Christchurch Arts Centre. The tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
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. Scaffolding constructed around the tower has also collapsed and is amongst 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.
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 cracks around a window of the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The cracks formed as a result of the 4 September 2010 earthquake.
A close-up photograph of parts of the Townsend Telescope recovered from the rubble of the Observatory tower. The telescope was housed in the tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. It was severely damaged when the tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of cracks around a window of the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The cracks formed as a result of the 4 September 2010 earthquake.
A photograph of the earthquake-damaged Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The photograph was taken using a cellphone camera. The top of the tower collapsed during the 22 February 2011 earthquake. The rubble from the tower has been cleared and a tarpaulin has been placed over the top of the broken tower. Tyres have been placed on the tarpaulin to hold it down. A temporary roof has also been constructed over the tower to keep out the rain. Two vehicles are parked in front.
A photograph of cracks in the masonry of the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The cracks formed as a result of the 4 September 2010 earthquake.