Experts from New Zealand and around the world will attend the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering’s annual technical conference in Wellington this week.

Conference convenor Dr David Whittaker says about 500 earthquake engineers and scientists will meet to exchange knowledge on a range of topics, including the impacts of the Kaikoura Earthquake and how to make building structures more resilient to large earthquakes.

Dr Whittaker says around 100 international delegates will present papers and updates from the United States, Japan, China, Taiwan and Turkey.

NZSEE President Peter Smith says the conference is a chance to share the latest thinking about seismic isolation and other technologies to protect buildings from earthquakes.

“Following the Kaikoura Earthquake, the community is asking important questions of earthquake engineers about seismic risk, adequacy of codes and seismic resilience.

“At the conference, engineers will be sharing what we have learned and listening to what overseas experience can teach us, as we work towards better seismic resilience in our buildings and infrastructure.

This conference is being held jointly with the Anti-Seismic Systems International Society’s (ASSISi) 15th World Conference on Seismic Isolation.

The conference runs from Thursday 27 April to Saturday 29 April.

| An IPENZ release  ||  April 26, 2017   |||

Inquirers back off one step short of the Supercat Issuers

The arrival of Erin Brokovich (pictured) in Christchurch and her call for those at the wrong end of insurance compensation to “speak up” about the injustice of it all is a further reminder of the obscure role in the earthquake aftermath of the global re-insurers.

Among the most powerful forces force in reinsurance is Berkshire Hathaway. It is considered within the industry to be the leader in supercats which is the category of reinsurance involved in major disasters such as the Christchurch earthquake.

Berkshire Hathaway sells sell policies that insurance and reinsurance companies purchase in order to limit their losses when mega-catastrophes strike.

The company is therefore the major reinsurer of reinsurers.

Though Mr Buffett in New Zealand is frequently the subject of admiring, some might say, adulatory, media coverage the matter of his involvement in these supercats is ignored out of either ignorance or out of fear. Or both.

The matter has similarly been too complex for politicians to contemplate at least openly.

Hurricanes and earthquakes are the two primary factors in the probabilities of supercats.

It is said that Mr Buffett’s supercat exposure can weather at any given time the eventuality of the calculable risk of up to four such eventualities.

Supercat insurance shares with the rest of the insurance sector one quite literally priceless advantage. Payments are received prior to the issue of the policy. In other words, cash up front.

This payment-in-advance gives the industry its cash float which in the case of the supercat sector is immense.

Therefore the following questions need to be asked:-

   1.  Who are the Christchurch reinsurers?

   2.  Who reinsures them?

   3.  Are the ultimate reinsurers solvent?

   4.  If so why are they not compensating the Christchurch home owners?

Instead the various debates have circled around the role of the primary insurers, the known insurers.

Erin Brokovich, formerly a California legal clerk, and the centrepiece of the eponymous film that starred Julia Roberts is roving ambassador for an Australian-based legal compensation practice.

As an environmental advocate she transcends the routine geomantic abstract preoccupation with global warming/carbon levels and by her presence fixes it upon the unpleasantness of ordinary people in the face of ambitions of big business.

Can Miss Brokovich now force into the light the identities of the entity or entities that hold the supercats over Christchurch and who decline to pay out on them?

|  FRom The MSCNewsWire reporters' desk  ||  Tuesday 11 April 2017   |||

An EBSS report ‘Don’t mention the law’, on MBIE’s proposed regulations and methodology for identifying earthquake prone buildings, shows that the Chief Executive, David Smol, intends to flout a landmark Supreme Court decision.

The law provides that the earthquake prone building test is against performance in a defined moderate earthquake. The Supreme Court, in a 2014 decision, ruled that the test earthquake must be a moderate earthquake, and not any more severe event. This ruling has been ignored in the methodology, where the effective test is some undefined severe earthquake.

“This ‘severe earthquake’ test and other manipulations means that buildings can be designated as earthquake prone when they clearly are not”, said Ian Harrison Chair of EBSS. “Engineers were told in their briefing document that assessed seismic ratings should never match the actual capacity of the building”.

The report recommends that engineers be required to sign an attestation that an earthquake prone building meets the specific performance test required by law.

“MBIE’s regime is grossly over engineered,” said Harrison. “There is an issue with unreinforced masonry buildings in more seismically active areas, but the real risks can be addressed quickly and relatively cheaply. We don’t have to do tens of thousands of potentially rigged assessments and then spend billions strengthening reinforced concrete and wooden buildings that are known to perform well in earthquakes”.

MBIE does not know how the regime will work and whether it will deliver consistent results, because it has not been tested. The methodology development process fells well short of minimum testing and validation standards, let alone best practice.

The report shows that the public has been systematically mislead about the real risk of so-called ‘earthquake prone’ buildings.

The New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering risk grading system, which is being promoted by MBIE, describes buildings as high risk, and very high risk, when they can be thousands of times safer than everyday activities such as driving or flying.Older reinforced concrete buildings performed as well as modern buildings in the Christchurch earthquake.The Wellington City Council’s website states that earthquake prone buildings can be expected to collapse in a moderate earthquake. Wellington was hit by a moderate earthquake in November 2016, but only two of nearly 700 ‘earthquake prone’ buildings had structural damage, and none collapsed. It was the modern buildings that were the big problem.

EBSS believes that engineers have breached the Fair Trading Act by making misleading statements about the need for services, and making unsubstantiated statements about risk. EBSS will be making a complaint to the Commerce Commission under the Act.

|  An EBSS release  |  February 16, 2017  ||

Engineers are concerned about the risk that earthquake-prone buildings pose to public safety in the Wellington region, and fully support the Government’s move to compel building owners to secure facades.

New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) President Peter Smith says during this period of increased earthquake risk in Wellington, Lower Hutt, Marlborough and Hurunui, it’s important to secure facades and speed up remedial work.

"These facades need to be secured, particularly because many of them are in popular retail areas like Cuba Street, Riddiford Street and Jackson Street.

"Engineers are very conscious of the lives lost when facades collapsed in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Thirty-nine people were killed and more than 100 people injured as a result of masonry falling onto footpaths and roads."

Structural Engineering Society (SESOC) President Paul Campbell says that while shorter, stiffer earthquake-prone buildings weren’t affected by the Kaikoura earthquake, they still pose a significant risk to public safety.

"Every earthquake is different - and earthquakes don’t test all buildings equally.

"On 14 November, as the earthquake waves travelled through rock away from Kaikoura, high frequency waves dissipated as heat.

"But low frequency waves experienced less resistance and reached Wellington. These low frequency waves created resonance in mid-height buildings, causing severe shaking.

"The next earthquake could be quite different and it’s important that earthquake-prone buildings are dealt with."

Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Chief Executive Susan Freeman-Greene says engineers’ key concern is public safety.

"We welcome the Government’s announcement that it will establish a fund to support building owners.

"If there is an aftershock centred closer to Wellington, securing the facades could save many lives.

"Since 14 November, there’s been fantastic industry and regulator collaboration.

"We are all working hard to improve resilience and make Wellington more prepared for whatever might come next."

|  An NZSEE release  | January 25, 2017  |

To rebuild or repair? How to fix earthquake affected structures earmarked for demolition

Many buildings currently slated for removal or rebuild in Christchurch and other earthquake affected geographies could be remediated with the help of proven ground engineering methods developed and tested by Mainmark. AMI Stadium at Lancaster Park is one such example.

|  Continue to read the letter here  |  Dec 14,  2016  |

Cabinet has agreed to reinstate the coastal route to Kaikoura and will provide additional funding to speed up the process, Transport Minister Simon Bridges has announced.

The existing State Highway 1 and rail corridor along the coastal route to the north and south of Kaikoura will be rebuilt, with additional improvements to increase safety and resilience.

“Since the day of the earthquake, restoring access to Kaikoura has been our number one priority. Agreeing to restore the coastal route demonstrates our ongoing commitment to getting this region back on its feet as quickly as possible,” Mr Bridges says.

“To provide certainty, the Crown will fund the work required. Exact costs are still being determined, but the current estimate is between $1.4 billion and $2 billion.

“In addition, emergency legislation passed through Parliament last week will cut through red tape, and ensure repairs to the existing route can be accelerated.”

An Order in Council is currently being prepared that will accelerate the reinstatement of State Highway 1 north and south of Kaikōura.

Mr Bridges says that even with an accelerated process, there is a long way to go.

“The precise work required to repair the route is still under investigation and it will be a very complex job. However, the Government is confident that limited access via the coastal route can be restored in about 12 months.

“Rebuilding a stronger, more resilient coastal route will give Kaikoura residents the security of a second connection to the rest of the South Island."

The NZ Transport Agency will repair and maintain the road for vehicles travelling through the Springs Junction and Lewis Pass route over the weeks and months ahead.

The Transport Agency will also work with local government to repair and maintain the Kaikoura emergency access route, and bring other roads back into service in the leadup to Christmas.

| IPENZ - 18 Nov 16 |  Engineers are finding unusual effects from the Kaikoura earthquake in that low rise buildings suffered minimal damage while medium rise buildings suffered significant damage.

New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) President Peter Smith says there was an extraordinarily large release of energy much closer to Wellington than initially realised.

The shaking lasted 90 seconds, compared to 20 seconds for the February 2011 Christchurch event.

Mr Smith says how buildings respond in an earthquake depends on their height, stiffness and the nature of the ground they are on.

“At this stage in Wellington, it looks like buildings between eight and 15 storeys have been worst hit. This quake has generated intense accelerations in buildings in this height range, especially those on softer soils.

“In contrast, short, stiff structures have experienced relatively low accelerations in this earthquake. This is the main reason why Wellington’s older buildings, which tend to be shorter, generally didn’t suffer any damage, even though some are categorised as earthquake prone. This effect is similar to that which occurred in the June 2013 Seddon earthquake. It’s important to realise that these buildings may still perform poorly in an event centred closer to Wellington.

Structural Engineering Society (SESOC) President Paul Campbell says engineers are continuing to assess buildings.

“Buildings might be undamaged or damaged in a way that doesn’t reduce their capacity to deal with future shaking. This means they may be just as safe as they were before the earthquake.

“Broken partition walls, ceiling and disrupted contents can look bad and be inconvenient but do not represent a significant threat to your safety. Conversely, some buildings may have damage that is hidden from view but there will generally be clues to this that an experienced and knowledgeable engineer will detect.

“If an engineer assesses a building as suffering damage that is likely to reduce its capacity to deal with future shaking, this means more detailed assessment is needed. Carrying out a detailed assessment can take weeks, not hours”.

Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Chief Executive Susan Freeman-Greene says many of the lessons learned from the Canterbury earthquakes are now incorporated into the Building Code though have been included in few buildings to date.

“These include new guidelines for rapid assessment of buildings and training of engineers in how to do these assessments.

“Everyone is feeling uncertain about the weeks and maybe months ahead, given the potential aftershock sequence. Building owners seeking peace of mind may want to get an engineer familiar with the building’s construction type to give it a full assessment.

“If anyone has concerns about damage that their building has suffered and the affect this may have on future performance they are urged to seek engineering advice.”

| IPENZ - 17 Nov 16 | Hundreds of engineers have been mobilised to check buildings and infrastructure after the Kaikoura earthquake.

Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Chief Executive Susan Freeman-Greene says there has been a massive response from engineers, with hundreds working around the clock in the South Island and Wellington since the early hours of Monday.

“At the moment, engineers continue to work with local authorities and building owners to assess buildings and infrastructure, which means checking whether the earthquakes have had any effect on their structural integrity. Public safety is engineers’ paramount concern.

“Some buildings seem to have been subjected to more severe shaking than others. It’s important to gather information so we can understand why and what needs to be learned.

“Engineers and others across the industry will need to work with councils and the Government to understand what this new information means for standards of design and construction.”

New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) President Peter Smith says every building – and every earthquake – is unique, with many factors working together to determine a building’s performance.

“Engineers have been working hard to identify any buildings that pose a risk to public safety, and are taking a precautionary approach if they suspect any risk."

Structural Engineering Society (SESOC) President Paul Campbell says structural engineers are working together to ensure consistency and make sure they spot trends.

“Nearly 200 structural engineers met in Wellington last night to share what they are learning from inspections and assessments, so that we can establish an understanding of the range of impacts across different types of buildings.

Mr Campbell says technical meetings like this are routinely organised following significant events, and were regularly held for several years following the Canterbury earthquakes. Individual buildings were not discussed.

“Structural engineers are gathering and analysing information as it comes in. We’ll be talking in more detail about this as soon as we can.”