Joint news release from the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand

29 June 2011

New earthquake information paper examines building design in the wake of Canterbury earthquakes

A new information paper released today reports on earthquake damage to buildings in Christchurch from the 4 September earthquake, and its associated aftershocks, and what this means for building design in the future.

The paper brings together the science and engineering expertise of several organisations - the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, the Structural Engineering Society New Zealand, the New Zealand Geotechnical Society and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering.

It provides answers to critical questions such as ‘What is an earthquake prone building?’, ‘Why did buildings collapse in these earthquakes?’, and ‘Given that a building has been through one earthquake, how do we know how much of its “earthquake life” has been used up?’

The paper looks to answer questions related to the expected performance of buildings during earthquakes as well as their actual behaviour in Christchurch.

The contributing organisations hope it will also provide better public understanding about designing buildings to resist earthquakes, and the new lessons to be learnt following the Canterbury earthquakes.

Commenting on the paper, Professor Keith Hunter, Vice-President of the Royal Society of New Zealand said: “The Royal Society of New Zealand is providing a series of information papers for the public explaining what is known about Christchurch’s earthquake activity and impacts, based on the best research knowledge in New Zealand.

“This new paper follows on from our previous paper about earthquake seismology. It draws on New Zealand’s engineering expertise to answer questions around the behaviour of buildings and structures in Christchurch following the quakes there. We hope that by bringing together information on these issues, some of the questions and concerns which people have will be answered.”

The Chief Executive of the Institution of Professional Engineers, Dr Andrew Cleland said: “There is a wide range of people with expertise in earthquake engineering in New Zealand, many of whom dedicate their careers to researching new innovations and international best practice.

“We are pleased that the fact sheets we have produced ourselves and in partnership with the Royal Society of New Zealand provide an opportunity for sharing that knowledge with New Zealanders.”

Experts contributing to the paper and media briefing (online briefing held via the Science Media Centre 10am today) include:

• Mark Batchelar, Principal, Mark Batchelar Consulting Engineers

• Alistair Cattanach, Director, Dunning Thornton Consultants Ltd

• Charles Clifton, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Auckland

• Win Clarke, Executive Officer, New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering

• John Hare, President, Structural Engineering Society

• Gregory MacRae, Associate Professor Department of Civil Engineering, University of Canterbury

• David Middleton, former Chief Executive of the Earthquake Commission

• Richard Sharpe, Technical Director Earthquake Engineering, Beca

• Peter Wood, President, New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering

ENDS

To read the information paper:

The paper can be downloaded via the website of the Royal Society of New Zealand www.royalsociety.org.nz

[Scoop copy: information_paperearthquake_engineering_christchurch.pdf]

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