Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Learning From Earthquakes

Christchurch Satellite Imagery

   Figure 1.   Figure 1 shows satellite imagery of Christchurch two days after the M6.3 earthquake hit.  To use this imagery, you’ll need to install Google Earth. After you have it installed, open the following files: Central and Northern Christchurch (1KB KMZ) Southern Christchurch (1 KB KMZ) You can turn this image layer on and off […]

Photos of Building Damage

Figure 1. Close-up view of severely damaged. Figure 2. Christchurch Catedral- Destruction of the power. Figure 3. Christchurch Catedral- destruction of the stone masonry tower.             Figure 4. Close-up view of strengthened gable wall that survived the shaking. Figure 5. Content damage. Figure 6. Damage to reinforced concrete block masonry building.       […]

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 […]