This webinar presents reflections from four prominent New Zealand-based disaster and resilience scholars on the significance of the Christchurch Earthquake Sequence. This conversation marked the 15th anniversary of the Christchurch Earthquake Sequence for the Natural Hazards Center's Disasters as Turning Points webinar series.
See a record of the webinar's chat history below.
Anna Canny, Natural Hazards Center: https://hazards.colorado.edu/training/webinars/disasters-as-turning-points-webinars
Ben Donora: From Portland, Oregon. We visited NZ including Christchurch 1 year ago. Fascinated by the response, rebuilding and museum to the event.
Luana Tupou: Zooming in from Hamilton NZ. I serve with the ADRA NZ Team
Lori Peek: Thank you, Sarah, that was so vivid and moving.
Anna Canny, Natural Hazards Center: Thank you everyone, apologies about the chat difficulties there!
Elizabeth Ogorek: Listening in from Indianapolis, IN. I spent 4 months in New Zealand in 2024
Phillip Stachelski: Phillip Stachelski, City of Moreno Valley, CA Office of Emergency Management
Anna Canny, Natural Hazards Center: The webinar recording will be posted after this conversation on the season webpage: https://hazards.colorado.edu/training/Christchurch-earthquake-at-15
Diego Cordero: From Costa Rica. Looking forward to learning from you all.
Lydia Michela: The ResOrgs team joining in Christchurch.
Hazelle Lerum: Hazelle Lerum, Multnomah County Emergency Management in Portland, Oregon. Hello all!
Sajan Neupane: Kia ora koutou, Sajan Neupane from Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Wellington
Michael Godfried: Listening from Seattle, WA: Seattle Public Utilities EM
Dawn Varley: Joining from Maple Ridge, BC, Canada. Working on the emergency program here as well as finishing up my Masters in DEM. Thank you to all the speakers for sharing time, knowledge and learnings today.
Sharon O'Brien: Kia ora, I’m zooming in from Dublin, Ireland, working at Dublin City University. Visited Christchurch in 2019.
Teresa Scolamacchia: Listening From Bari, Italy Thank you all
Ahmet YILDIRIM: From Türkiye, İstanbul. Greetings everyone. Very hard to deal with earthquakes, recently shaking by 6th February 2023 Kahramanmaraş ones was one of the biggest in the history also.
Omer Cem Karacaoglu: Hi everyone, Julia, thank you. I'm Omer from Turkey
Deborah Weiser: Debbie Weiser, Thousand Oaks, CA. We visited CHC 5 years after the earthquake, and my parents are there right now! Thanks for mentioning David, Julia. He was such a beloved member of the earthquake community.
Lori Peek: Thank you, Julia, for your beautiful words.
Alberto Ayala: Hi from Spain, my name is Alberto, IGN
Shirley Feldmann-Jensen: Thank you Sara, Julia, Tom, and Ken for sharing with us here. So good to see you again.
Katy Wolf: Hello, from Cowlitz Indian Tribe territory in southwest Washington.
Taiana Veiga: Hi from Brazil, my name is Taiana
Amirhossein Orumiyehei: Hello to everyone. Hearing you from Iran. I did my PhD in earthquake engineering at the University of Canterbury (2017–2022).
Varun Singh: Hi from UCF Orlando, Florida!
David Parsons: David Parsons Charles Sturt University Australia with a New Zealand addiction. Fantastic place and wonderful people to work with.
Todd Miller: Todd Miller, Auckland University of Technology, I worked in the red zone through the earthquake response
Richard Smith: Hello from Wellington, NZ. Thanks to the NHC team and Sarah, Julia, Tom and Ken for today's webinar
Douglas Lownsbery: Greetings all from Salem, Oregon
Paul Doherty: Chris Hill, listening from Northern VA. I work for FEMA HQ Response Geospatial Office and volunteer with the CGAUX. I help run and lead a FEMA Response program called Geospatial Damage Assessments.
Lori Peek: Ken, 15 years later, and still goosebumps hearing about your experience as an engineer seeing the structural damage.
Steve Matthewman: Kia ora koutou, joining from Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Aotearoa New Zealand. I'm a sociologist at Waipapa Taumata Rau, The University of Auckland
Jeff Rubin: Greetings from Wilsonville, OR (SW of Portland).
Naomi Vaotuua: Hello from ADRA Australia, listening in on Kambuwal Country in QLD, Australia
Alison Bird: Alison Bird, Natural Resources Canada, near Victoria, BC
Monalisa Chatterjee: Hello from Los Angeles!
Forrest Lanning: FEMA Earthquake Liaison from San Francisco Bay Area, California and former CHCH resident and Structural Engineer NZ CPEng
Mikel Gordon: Hello everyone! Joining from Los Angeles CA
Kaleigh Yost: Kaleigh Yost, tuning in from Penn State University, central Pennsylvania
Monalisa Chatterjee: Hello from Los Angeles!
Ali Öncel: Ali Osman Öncel Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa; Türkiye
Amy Kitchener: Aloha from Hawaii
Jessica Shoubridge: Hello from Whistler, BC! Nice to see you Ken and colleagues!
Ken Elwood: Hi Jessica!
Shobha Poudel: Hi everyone, I am Shobha Poudel, a Coordinating Lead Author for IPCC AR7, currently joining from Italy and originally from Nepal. Nepal is among the most earthquake-vulnerable countries and experienced devastating earthquakes in 2015, which strongly shaped our perspectives on resilience and disaster risk reduction. This webinar looks truly insightful, and I am very glad to join this webinar.
Sara Walsh: Hello everyone, thanks to the Natural Hazards Centre for hosting this session today. I’m joining from Edmonton Canada. At the time of the EQ I was an Emergency Manager in Victoria, British Columbia; we subsequently learned so much from the Christchurch EQ—so many parallels between our two cities.
Lori Peek: Tom, what a beautiful set of memories and connections and what a testament to DJ as well. Thank you.
Deborah Weiser: Debbie Weiser, Thousand Oaks, CA. I visited CHC in 2016, and deeply appreciated the resilience of the city and everyone working and living there. My parents are in CHC today! Thanks to the panelists for sharing, and NHC for hosting.
Lori Peek: Hi Douglas! Did you mean to raise your hand? If so, please let us know if you have a question or concern! I think Anna will take questions at the end if there is time!
Hamidatou Mouloud: Hello everyone, Mouloud from UAE
Michael Godfried: Western Washington 2001 Nisqually Earthquake has its 25th Anniversary in a few days on February 28.
Michael Godfried: https://mil.wa.gov/news/remembering-the-2001-nisqually-earthquake-25-years-later
Harsh Verma: Thank you to the panelists for an insightful discussion.
Harsh Verma: This is Dr. Harsh Verma from Glocol Networks, a Pilot Test Partner with USGS, where we are evaluating the importance of real-time property occupancy insights in specific regions of California during disaster events. Understanding where people are — not just where hazards occur — can significantly strengthen emergency response and life-safety outcomes. I look forward to connecting and exploring how we can work jointly to reduce risk hazards and provide actionable intelligence for emergency providers.
Gustavo Palazzo: Good afternoon, I am Gustavo Palazzo from the National Technological University (UTN), Argentina. Together with colleagues, we are working on strategies for the assessment and retrofit of existing school buildings, aimed at practical implementation within the Latin American context.
Brenden Winder: Brenden - joining from the Christchurch office right next to Tom Wilson :)
Kate Burns: Good morning, I'm Kate with NEMA in NZ, watching from the same office as Tom W and Brenden in Christchurch.
Alberto Ayala: We are working in the Canary Islands, an area prone to volcanic hazards. Maybe we can establish some kind of relationship with some of you, to share knowledge
Zorana Mijic: Hi Everyone! This is Zorana Mijic of the University of Delaware. I have been to Christchurch, specifically Univ. of Canterbury, several times since 2018, spending a year first working on different research projects then visiting as a faculty member. Christchurch feels like second home to me! My research focuses on liquefaction and its consequences. I am always looking for ways to learn from others and approach problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. Thanks to the panelists for sharing their experiences and knowledge!
Brent Doberstein: Kia Ora! Brent Doberstein from the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. I'm leading a research project on managed retreat ("Retreating From Risk": https://uwaterloo.ca/retreating-from-risk/) and we are keen to learn lessons from the Christchurch 'red zone' retreat of >5500 houses. As far as we can tell, this is the largest single site managed retreat project in the developed world.
Jenny Stein: Jenny Stein here from Ōtepoti Dunedin, NZ. Seems a good time to share this short Ethical Guidelines for Post-Disaster Research document that Sarah and colleagues compiled a few years back: https://resiliencechallenge.nz/wp-content/uploads/Guiding-principles-human-interaction-and-data-gathering-post-disaster-22022023-Beaven.pdf
Shirley Feldmann-Jensen: Sara, you highlight such an important point on ethical approach in research surrounding hazard events.
Brenden Winder: Kia ora Brent - let's connect. I managed the Red Zone in CHC. brenden.winder@ccc.gov.nz
Brenden Winder: brenden.winder@ccc.govt.nz
Alison Bird: Base isolation is a phenomenal tool for eq resilience!
Lori Peek: Hi All - Please keep sharing these extraordinary resources and points of connection in the chat. We will download this after the meeting and save it for the panelists and as part of the meeting artifacts (including posting the recording) on the page for this session. Thank you so much.
Jenniffer Santos-Hernandez: Thank you so much for the discussion and the valuable insights. Jenniffer Santos-Hernández, sociologist working for the Disaster Research Center at University of Delaware and focused on issues of risk communication and long-term recovery in Southwest Puerto Rico related to the 2020 earthquake and seismic sequence. Very much appreciate the space to learn from the group and the experience of Christchurch. Thank you so much.
Forrest Lanning: My project was the base isolation retrofit of the Christchurch Art Gallery. Good memories. The building was also used as the earthquake response center.
Brenden Winder: https://quakestudies.canterbury.ac.nz/
Brent Doberstein: Tom, that's such a key observation. Disasters as an opportunity to reimagine communities for greater livability!
Jeff Rubin: Sounds like functional recovery, e.g., https://www.eeri.org/images/policy/EERI-Functional-Recovery-Conceptual-Framework-White-Paper-201912.pdf
Anna Canny, Natural Hazards Center: We’ll have time for just one or two audience questions, please submit those via the Q&A section! Thank you so much for being so engaged in the chat, everyone.
Lydia Michela: For the South Island of NZ, there is a 75% probability of an Alpine Fault earthquake occurring in the next 50 years, and there is a 4 out of 5 chance that it will be a magnitude 8+ event. This organisation has interesting information and resources related to this. https://af8.org.nz/
Katherine Johnson: For those interested in learning more about functional recovery, please see NIST SP 1254 (foundational report on Functional Recovery design) and NIST SP 1341 (more detail on the selection of functional recovery target times). These are publications by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology developed in collaboration with other federal agencies, researchers, engineers, social scientists, and many more. I'm Katherine Johnson, a Social Scientist at NIST.
Maria Freeman: Wellington was a terrifying place to visit and learn about how an earthquake will disrupt gas pipes and cause major fires, the water pipes will be disrupted, and the two roads into and out of the city as well as the airport will likely be impacted. Wellington was a lovely city and I enjoyed my stay there, but I would not want to be there when the next earthquake happens
Brenden Winder: https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2019-08/Otakaro%20Avon%20River%20Corridor%20Regeneration%20PlanReducedSize.pdf
Jenny Stein: The visualisation Tom mentioned: https://youtu.be/uGWbjYy3to0
Mimi Perreault: Yes agree about the risk communication components - what do you think k is the biggest driver of resilience communication?
Alison Bird: Fantastic discussion - extremely valuable!
Michael Godfried: Yes, Thank you for your answer Tom!
Ali Öncel: Thanks so much.
Anne Garland: Anne Garland, Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc. Appreciate your discussion about risk communication in socio ecological systems. We continue to study risk perceptions, communication, interpretations and actions in Arctic communities, especially to assist North Slope Borough (NSB) OEM in all hazard science, especially rapid environmental aspects, and community education. Quakes do occur, too. I was invited by David at JCDR to visit several times, present at conferences, and work on indigenous aspects of disaster preparedness due to our work in US to do participatory action studies across native communities. We learned a lot from your efforts. We invited Hayley Squance to assist a development of AWEM for our native partners in NSB. Hayley started a Vet study on animals and rescue animals for quake response. See our facebook journal @arieshermys
Lydia Michela: Thank you Anna Canny and NHC for organising this webinar, and thank you to the panelists for sharing your experiences and insights.
Steve Matthewman: Indeed. Thanks all! Much appreciated
Phillip Stachelski: Thank you everyone for all the wonderful insights!
Shirley Feldmann-Jensen: Grateful for this outstanding discussion, as well as how each of you have influenced my work.
Lori Peek: Sara, Julia, Tom, and Ken, so much respect for each of you and the enormous difference that you have made in scholarship, policy, and practice. Thank you for sharing your extraordinary reflections and insights. This was deeply moving start to end, and of course, Anna, thank you for your brilliant organization and moderation.
Denis Moiriat: Thank you very much for this discussion
Omer Cem Karacaoglu: Thanks to the panelists for sharing, and NHC team
Deborah Weiser: Thank you!
Sharyl Rabinovici: Deeply appreciate the knowledge shared here and the opportunity to hear everyone's thoughts.
Sheena Ramkumar: So helpful! Thank you all!
Julia Becker: Thank you for the invites, and for coming to listen!
Harsh Verma: Thank you!!
Sajan Neupane: Thank you very much for this insightful webinar. Cheers!!
Mikel Gordon: Thank you for a wonderful panel!
Kate Burns: Thank you everyone. Really interesting discussion. I appreciate the opportunity.
Ana Gabriela Haro: Thank you!
Amirhossein Orumiyehei: Thank you so much for fascinating discussion.
Lianne Dalziel: Thank you
Sara Walsh: Many thanks to panelists and facilitators. This session is very appreciated.
Shobha Poudel: Thank you,
Harsh Verma: Thank you for a wonderful session
Tara Shreve: Thank you!