by | March 9, 2011 · 1:59 pm
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Dunedin earthquake proneness

### ODT Online Wed, 9 Mar 2011
Dunedin residents ‘should not be complacent’
By Ellie Constantine
While the chance of a serious earthquake hitting Dunedin is one in 1000, the odds are better than winning Lotto and citizens “should not be complacent”, geologist Prof Richard Norris says. Should such a quake occur, parts of South Dunedin, Mosgiel and the Taieri would “inevitably” be engulfed in liquefaction, the hill suburbs would suffer landslips and rockfalls and many heritage buildings would be reduced to rubble.

Image by Paul Le Comte (via Twitpic). Source: ODT
Link to original tweet here

Christchurch’s “seismic hazard” was “about double” Dunedin’s, but should one occur, the impact would be similar, but of a different nature.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

8 Comments

Filed under #eqnz, Architecture, Construction, Design, Economics, Geography, Heritage, People, Site, Town planning, Urban design

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8 responses to “Dunedin earthquake proneness”

  1. wirehunt
    June 27, 2011 at 11:57 pm

    There’s no surprises there with the brick – wood statement.

    Reply
  2. Russell Garbutt
    June 28, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    Excellent background article that shows the communication levels between those that know the potentials and those that need to know is poor at best. The issue seems to be that those who know are used to communicating in language that most people don’t understand – or maybe don’t want to understand.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth
      June 29, 2011 at 1:40 pm

      Blogpost from Christchurch resident Cheryl Bernstein:

      9:38 AM Wednesday, June 29, 2011
      The trick of standing upright here
      http://cherylbernstein.blogspot.com/2011/06/trick-of-standing-upright-here.html

      “But the past has a way of returning, and Christchurch is currently locked in what seems an endless loop of feedback as the swamps rise to the surface again and the seaside cliffs remake their edges. It’s the ‘new normal’, as the local cliche goes, and it is surprising how quickly one can get used to the strangest things.”

      Reply
      • Elizabeth
        June 29, 2011 at 3:26 pm

        Blogpost at NZ Museums:

        Wednesday, 29 June 2011 at 1:36 pm
        Layers of History: Hope for Heritage Buildings
        By Adrienne Rewi
        http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/news/layers-of-history/

        “We in the heritage and arts fields have learned that Civil Defence is not aware of how to deal with the treasures of New Zealand and we are now looking at ways of improving their procedures. We are looking forward to a time when we are part of the Civil Defence response and training, so that ultimately, they will use the key to the door, rather than kicking the door in.” -Malcolm Duff, NZHPT Southern General Manager

        Reply
      • Elizabeth
        June 29, 2011 at 3:53 pm

        Blogpost at Ideolog Design Daily:

        Wednesday 29 June 2011
        New Analysis of Christchurch building design
        http://designdaily.co.nz/blog/2011/06/new-analysis-christchurch-building-design
        [full RSNA report] http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/media/information_paper-earthquake_engineering_christchurch.pdf

        “How Christchurch can be rebuilt so as to have greater resistance to potential future shocks has been the question on many a mind, and now an information paper just released by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ) hopes to provide some direction for the city’s design future. But it’s not all about the future. The paper also analyses earthquake damage to buildings in Christchurch from the 4 September earthquake, and its associated aftershocks.”

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        ### ODT Online Wed, 29 Jun 2011
        Some Christchurch buildings may be ‘uninsurable’
        Some Christchurch buildings may be regarded as “uninsurable” or the premiums set for them may be too costly for their owners, says a senior engineer involved in the reconstruction of Christchurch. Structural Engineering Society president John Hare, a director of the Holmes consulting group, and a principal engineering adviser to Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera), was speaking at the release of a paper from science academy the Royal Society and other science and engineering bodies on what the earthquake damage to Christchurch buildings meant for building future building designs.
        Read more

        Reply
  3. Elizabeth
    May 25, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    The university’s written submission, on behalf of property services director Barry Mackay, questioned the merits of moving away from a requirement for only pre-1976 buildings to be tested.

    ### ODT Online Sun, 25 May 2014
    Seismic strengthening irks university
    By Vaughan Elder
    The University of Otago is concerned changes to earthquake-strengthening rules could add unnecessary costs to its already hefty $50 million seismic programme. The university’s submission on the Government’s Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill broadly supported proposed changes but expressed concern about a requirement for all buildings built before March 31, 2005, to be inspected.
    Read more

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    Interesting that the university had to “fix” the St David 2 building at considerable cost ($9.65m). On inspection last year this modern building, built in 1997, was found to be at only 34% of new building standards for earthquake strength. Read more here.

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth
    May 25, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    The recent change to the building consents process was also a complicating factor, with major building work triggering additional fire safety and disabled access requirements.

    ### ODT Online Sun, 25 May 2014
    Globe races to meet fundraising deadline
    By Brenda Harwood – The Star
    The flurry of fundraising activity continues as the Friends of the Globe Theatre inch towards their goal of raising $500,000 for repairs to the historic Dunedin theatre. Friends of the Globe president Dr Rosemary Beresford said about $275,000 had been raised so far through grants and fundraising activities, and the group was waiting for responses from several major funding organisations.
    Read more

    ● The Globe Theatre holds a category 1 Heritage New Zealand classification.

    Reply

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