2009 NZSEE
Conference
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2009 NZSEE Conference |
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Contents |
Keynote Address Session 1 Session 2 Session 3A Session 3B Session 4A Session 4B Session 5A Session 5B Session 6 Session 7 Poster Session Surviving Future Disasters in New ZealandDavid Johnston, Julia Becker, Wendy Saunders, Kim Wright, Maureen Coomer, Graham Leonard and Douglas Paton Despite experiencing on-going small events such as floods, earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions, New Zealand has had a relatively calm period over the past 78 years, with no overwhelming disaster since the 1931 Napier Earthquake. The fact that few New Zealanders have experienced disastrous hazard events is a good thing. The downside however, is the resulting complacency and limited understanding of natural hazard risk. There is a compelling and urgent need to develop more effective strategies for surviving future disasters in New Zealand. Paper P02: [Read] [Presentation] Proposal for a Semi-automated Post-earthquake Damage Assessment and Building Reoccupation SchemeHamish Avery and John Berrill Following a damaging earthquake, the ability to safely and rapidly re-occupy buildings is of critical importance for both humanitarian and financial reasons. This paper proposes a scheme to hasten the reoccupation of evacuated buildings as well as help with the initial decision of whether or not to evacuate. It combines features of the BORP scheme developed by the City of San Francisco with the use of accelerograph data supplied by a modest instrument network in the building. As in the BORP scheme, the building is inspected prior to the earthquake, structural engineers are retained for the formulation of a post-earthquake inspection plan as well as for its rapid execution after an event. In addition, threshold levels of shaking, corresponding to safe/moderate-damage/unsafe safety states, are assessed and entered into the monitoring system. In the event of a significant earthquake, alerts are issued automatically by text, e-mail and electronic display, helping in any evacuation decision. In addition, the accelerograph data is available for use in the post-earthquake damage assessment, allowing it to be carried out more precisely and rapidly, minimising disruption, speeding recovery and reducing both financial and human costs. Paper P03: [Read] [Presentation] Community Resilience to Earthquakes: Understanding How Individuals Make Meaning of Hazard information, and How This Relates to Preparing For HazardsJulia Becker, David Johnston, Douglas Paton and Kevin Ronan There has been little in-depth study on the processes that influence how individual, community and societal factors interact to determine how people render hazard information meaningful, and how this interactive process translates into preparedness actions. A PhD study is currently underway to address this gap. The study uses qualitative research methods (i.e. interviews with community members) to explore aspects of meaning-making, preparedness, adaptive capacity and resilience for hazards. Interviews have been undertaken with individuals in three communities (Napier, Wanganui and Timaru) to explore how people make meaning of earthquake hazard information, and the factors behind why these people do, or do not, prepare for earthquakes. This paper outlines some preliminary findings from the interviews in Timaru. At a later stage, the interviews will also be complemented by quantitative surveys to test findings from the interviews at a general community level. The ultimate aim of this research is to enhance community resilience to natural hazards. By undertaking qualitative interviews, and follow-up quantitative surveys directly informed by the qualitative work, a better understanding can be gained about the influences and mechanisms that enhance sustained household and community preparation. From this understanding, current models of resilience can be improved and subsequently fed into policy-making for hazard management. Paper P04: [Read] [Presentation] Special Presentation: Guidelines for Post-Disaster Building Safety EvaluationsDave Brunsdon
Keynote Address Session 1 Session 2 Session 3A Session 3B Session 4A Session 4B Session 5A Session 5B Session 6 Session 7 Poster Session |