Warning to Expect Internal Damage in “Safe” Buildings

While the primary focus after this morning’s earthquake is examining the structural soundness of buildings and cleaning up the obvious external damage, Jeremy Baker from Quake Protected warns to expect growing reports of internal damage to office buildings and retail outlets.

“A lot of damage can happen even in buildings that are structurally sound”, said Mr Baker. “Suspended ceilings, air conditioning, lighting and sprinkler systems can suffer significant damage especially in offices, supermarkets and retail outlets”.

One example was seen in Wellington’s 6.5 magnitude earthquake in July 2013. The near-new BNZ Harbour Quays complex on the waterfront came through the earthquake structurally unscathed, however it suffered extensive internal damage due to collapsed suspended ceilings and burst water pipes and sprinklers. The building was completely closed for six months before the first staff could return. It was 15 months before all staff could be back in the building. BNZ estimated that the cost of fixing the building and relocating staff ran to about $10 million.

“Externally the building looked fine, but internally it was a disaster,” said Mr Baker.

“I expect we’ll hear similar stories from today’s earthquake, such as the air conditioning ducting that ended up in Keith Spry pool in Johnsonville.

“The problem comes from building owners only focusing on structural strength. But it is the non-structural elements that often cause the most damage and need to have seismic restraining too. It’s a good thing this earthquake happened in the middle of the night, because that meant people weren’t at work where non-restrained suspended ceilings, sprinkler systems and air conditioning systems may have fallen down”.

ENDS