APUG members in New Zealand: Shaken but not stirred?

[Poisson Du Jour]

Goodness, Wellington/NZ in the news big time again this afternoon with nasty earthquake. Everybody in good order there?
Seems Seddon is a hot spot for earthquakes. Watching NEWS of it at the moment.

 

[Ross Chambers]

I liked sardonic stoic humour of a Kiwi Tweeter (do kiwis tweet?): "Early beer o'clock, see you in the pub." Wellington, based on my 20 years living there, is pretty well planned for tremors although I never felt comfortable driving through the Mt Vic tunnel.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Oh, people would have said Christchurch was OK with tremors and earthquakes, until... —!!

 

[P C Headland]

Well, I did get to review the cleanliness (or otherwise) of the carpet under my desk at work The shaking went on long enough to go from "I'll sit this one out" to "I think I'll watch the other buildings swaying from under my desk".

Then it was off home early - no trains, so a pleasant hour long walk home on a (surprisingly) calm, mild winter afternoon. I had a beer when I got home!

 

[Ross Chambers]

Oh, people would have said Christchurch was OK with tremors and earthquakes, until... —!!

Well I'm not an expert but Wellington is a mix of timber houses which are considered by locals as the best option in a tremor and modern office type buildings built to strict earthquake codes. Christchurch had many older stone and brick buildings in the CBD which were more to the taste of the Canterbury Association settlers. I'm happy to be contradicted though.

 

[Chris Nielsen]

Another one I missed, everyone in the office tells me they felt it, I didn't feel a thing.

Did you guys see the thing on the news about the trains not running so people were driving past the train station offering people free rides ?? Awesome

 

[P C Headland]

Earthquake proofing standards for Wellington are the highest in the country, and amongst the highest in the world. Everyone has known for a long time that sooner or later, Wellington is going to be struck by a major quake (magnitude 8 or greater). The last one that size was in the mid eighteen hundreds, and raised quite a bit of ground. We are told to expect one that magnitude every 150 years or so....

Large buildings are built on base isolators, some having what look like giant shock absorbers underneath. If you're ever in Wellington, check out the simulator and see the foundations at Te Papa.

Modern buildings in Christchurch, built just prior to the big quakes, would likely not have met even 30% of the then Wellington code. Same story for other major centres. There's a lot of reviewing of building codes now, and even some revisions following the recent Wellington quakes, for example how to better secure office ceiling tiles, ensure sprinklers don't get activated, etc.

 

[Vaughn]

I spent a year outside of Christchurch (Lincoln) and no quakes...but we had a 170km (105mph) wind come roaring over the plains. Windbreaks laid broken and the huge monkey-puzzle tree in the center of Lincoln College was blown over.

In many ways, a lot like home.

 

[Ross Chambers]

Earthquake proofing standards for Wellington are the highest in the country, and amongst the highest in the world. Everyone has known for a long time that sooner or later, Wellington is going to be struck by a major quake (magnitude 8 or greater). The last one that size was in the mid eighteen hundreds, and raised quite a bit of ground. We are told to expect one that magnitude every 150 years or so....

Large buildings are built on base isolators, some having what look like giant shock absorbers underneath. If you're ever in Wellington, check out the simulator and see the foundations at Te Papa.

Modern buildings in Christchurch, built just prior to the big quakes, would likely not have met even 30% of the then Wellington code. Same story for other major centres. There's a lot of reviewing of building codes now, and even some revisions following the recent Wellington quakes, for example how to better secure office ceiling tiles, ensure sprinklers don't get activated, etc.

I always recited something like that to myself when in the shopping mall beneath the BNZ building in Willis St. Wellington. I found myself working alone on a weekend in the then National Film Unit building in Avalon during a tremor. It's likely no one except a crew far away missing their rushes would have missed me for some days if worst came to worst. Praise to Kiwi architects.