Lessons from Haiti and Chile and How to Prepare for Future Disasters
As Haiti and Chile move from disaster response to recovery–and after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook northern Mexico and southern California Sunday–it is time to step back and extract larger lessons from the quakes in Haiti and Chile. The first lesson is that Haiti and Chile are worlds apart. In its 2009 Human Development Index, […]
Photos compiled by CSSC
See the Photos: Baja California Earthquake April 4, 2010 M7.2 (1.8 MB PDF)
Observations on Performance of University of Canterbury and Lincoln University
The University was initially closed for one week, but during the clean-up, it was decided to extend the closure for a second week, with a phased return for students on the Thursday-Friday of the second week. On those days, graduate students with research offices were allowed in to clean up their offices, and faculty were […]
Coming Out of the Cupboard: Social Media in the Christchurch Earthquake.
Imagine for a moment that you recently traveled to a foreign country to study. You just arrived a few days ago. You are settling in, trying to adjust to the new surrounds, attempting to make friends, and struggling to understand the language and culture. Then a massive earthquake hits. What would you do after the […]
4 weeks on: Preliminary reconnaissance report from the Christchurch 22 February 2011, 6.3 Mw earthquake
1. Introduction 1.1. Note This informal report provides an updated view of the various aspects in relation to the 22nd Feb 2011 6.3 MwChristchurch earthquake event, 4 weeks after (written on the 25th March 2011). This is a preliminary report subjected to changes/amendments as new information is gathered. 1.2. General and services recovery (as […]
Safety Assessment Efforts in Canterbury
New Zealand’s safety assessment protocols for buildings are similar to those in the U.S. for placing red (unsafe), yellow (restricted access) or green (inspected) placards on buildings so we were somewhat familiar and generally helpful in documentation of the placarding and in making decisions. Responsibility for each team’s decisions were principally delegated to Certified Professional Engineers from other […]
Briefing on Safety Assessment Progress
63,823 buildings have been assessed. Of those, 1,55 residential building have been posted red so far. 340 out of 849 heritage buildings have been posted red. Of the commercial buildings placarded, 730 are red, 756 yellow, and 2029 are green. Controversies about the deconstruction of a few heritage buildings are brewing. 24 buildings have been approved […]
Draft Central City Plan – Christchurch Rebuilding Proposal
For more information, read this news article: Plan to build a ‘city in a garden’ Read the plan: Draft Central City Plan – August 2011 (8.0 MB PDF)
Reconnaissance observations
The Central Business District (CBD) was particularly hit hard. Indeed both earthquakes caused the collapse here of many seismically vulnerable URM buildings built between 1885 and 1920s. Unlike the first quake, which hit the city at midnight when the CBD was empty, the second quake fiercely shook the city at 12.51pm when many people were […]
Observations from the EERI Reconnaissance Team
The goal is to begin opening downtown sections of the Christchurch Business District (CBD) and to give the government a clear idea of the status of all the buildings. I was teamed with Fred Turner, Roberto Leon and Bob Gray who was our New Zealand CPEng. We also had two urban search and rescue personnel, […]