Magazine

Read the latest edition of AIR and MEIR as an Interactive e-book

Mar 2024

New Zealand: Earthquake resilience boosted by release of new hazard model

Source: Asia Insurance Review | Nov 2022

The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited, also known as GNS Science, has updated its National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) that provides an estimate of the likelihood and strength of earthquake ground shaking at any given site in New Zealand, and considers how different parts of the country might behave in the event of large magnitude earthquakes.
 
Led by a team from GNS Science, more than 50 local and international scientists have been collaborating for more than two years on the revision of the NSHM, which was made publicly available this week.
 
The NSHM estimates the likelihood of future earthquake shaking hazard to have increased throughout most of the country, ranging from almost no change to more than doubling in some areas. On average, results have increased by 50% or more from the previous modelling, highlighting the need to boost national resilience strategies and readiness.
 
Funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Earthquake Commission (EQC), the NSHM project incorporates the latest international science and considers the data and knowledge resulting from New Zealand’s significant earthquakes of the last two decades, such as the Canterbury earthquake sequence and the Kaikoura earthquakes.
 
While the NSHM indicates a general increase in forecast ground shaking hazard across the country, it does not describe its impact or assess associated risk. Instead, the model is a scientific instrument that can be used by government and industry to estimate risk and help make risk-based decisions.
 
Time will be required to determine how the revised hazard information will factor into policy and practice. The engineering, building and insurance industries will all now be analysing the NSHM data and carefully considering how it might be applied.
 
Throughout the revision project, technical advice on the development of the NSHM was provided by a 17-member panel of international scientists and engineers using a participatory review process. An additional five-member international panel then undertook an assurance review of the science process. A 
 
| Print
CAPTCHA image
Enter the code shown above in the box below.

Note that your comment may be edited or removed in the future, and that your comment may appear alongside the original article on websites other than this one.

 

Recent Comments

There are no comments submitted yet. Do you have an interesting opinion? Then be the first to post a comment.