LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

NEW ZEALANDPART 3B: EARTHQUAKES

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

NEW ZEALAND’S NEXT DAMAGING EARTHQUAKE WAS INEVITABLE

NEW ZEALAND’S NEXT DAMAGING EARTHQUAKE WAS INEVITABLE

• ---BUT, NEW ZEALANDERS DIDN’T EXPECT A SECOND REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF EARTHQUAKE DISASTER RESILIENCE

• SO SOON---• ON FEB. 21, 2011

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN NEW ZEALAND DISASTERS IN NEW ZEALAND

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN NEW ZEALAND DISASTERS IN NEW ZEALAND

FLOODS

WINDSTORMS

EARTHQUAKES

VOLCANOES

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

HIGH BENEFIT/COST PROGRAMS FOR BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT

HIGH BENEFIT/COST PROGRAMS FOR BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters

Planet Earth’s Restlessness Causes Movement of Tectonic Plates:

Earthquakes

SECOND DAMAGING EARTHQUAKE STRIKES CHRISTCHURCH, NEW

ZEALAND

A SHALLOW (4.1 KM), M6.3 QUAKE LOCATED 5 KM FROM

CHRISTCHURCH STRUCK AT NOON ON FEB. 21, 2011

PHILIPPINO SEISMOLOGIST: LOOKS AT SEISMOGRAMS IN MANILA

EPICENTRES: SEPT. 3, 2010 AND FEB 21, 2011 EARTHQUAKES

THE 4.1-KM DEPTH MADE THIS EARTHQUAKE MORE DAMAGING

SOCIETAL IMPACTS EXACER-BATED BY SHALLOW DEPTH

• Strong ground shaking toppled tall buildings and churches on a busy weekday, killing at least 145 people, severing communication lines, and leaving the centre of the city looking like “a war zone” and unusable.

INTENSITY MAP: CHRISTCHURCH

CHRISTCHURCH CITY CENTRE: “A WAR ZONE”

CHRISTCHURCH CITY CENTRE: “A WAR ZONE”

CHRISTCHURCH CITY CENTRE: “A WAR ZONE”

PYNE GOULD GUINESS BUILDING: COLLAPSED

COLLAPSED BUILDING; CHRISTCHURCH

TRAPPED IN RUBBLE

• More than 100 people, including as many as a dozen visiting Japanese students, were trapped in the rubble.

DAMAGE: CHRISTCHURCH CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL

COLLAPSE: A BAPTIST CHURCH

CRUSHED CARS: CHRISTCHURCH

BARACADED BUILDING; CHRISTCHURCH

INTERIOR CONTENTS

RAIL LINES

LANDSLIDE

SEARCH AND RESCUE

• Despite darkness and drizzling rain, rescue crews with sniffer dogs (and eventually heavy equipment) fanned out across the city in search of survivors, some of whom were sending text and phone messages from beneath the rubble.

SEARCH AND RESCUE WORKERS

UNUSUAL PHYSICAL IMPACTS

• 40 million tons of ice were separated from Tasman Glacier located 120 mi from the epicentre, and flooding occurred in Bexley, a suburb of Christchurch.

40 MILLION TON ICE CHUNK DISLODGED FROM TASMAN GLACIER

DISLODGED ICE IN TASMAN LAKE

CHRISTCHURCH SUBURB, BEXLEY, FLOODED

ECONOMIC IMPACT

• The New Zealand Government's Treasury on Sunday, March 6th released an estimate that February's magnitude 6.3 quake, combined with September's magnitude 7.1 temblor, would cost around 15 billion New Zealand dollars ($11 billion).

NEW ZEALAND’S 2011 ECONOMIC GROWTH

---CUT IN HALF

POLICY POLICY ADOPTIONADOPTION

POLICY POLICY ADOPTIONADOPTION

RISK ASSESSMENT

• VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY

• EXPOSUREEXPOSURE

• EVENTEVENT

POLICY ASSESSMENT

• COSTCOST

• BENEFITBENEFIT

•CONSEQUENCESCONSEQUENCES

TIME FOR A NEW EARTHQUAKE SCENARIO AND A TIME FOR A NEW EARTHQUAKE SCENARIO AND A POLICY REVIEW: TOWARDS EARTHQUAKE DISASTER POLICY REVIEW: TOWARDS EARTHQUAKE DISASTER

RESILIENCERESILIENCE

EARTH-EARTH-QUAKESQUAKES

EARTH-EARTH-QUAKESQUAKES EXPECTED EXPECTED

LOSSLOSS

EXPECTED EXPECTED LOSSLOSS