Lessons from the quake

Ahundred days after the Kaikoura earthquake is a good time to reflect on what the capital has learnt. The November 14 shake was a shocking wake-up call for Wellington in more ways than one. We are still absorbing its lessons.

The most important message is that ordinary people have to make life-saving decisions themselves, especially if they live on low-lying land near the coast. The confusion over tsunami warnings has, in that sense, done us a favour.

We have learnt that tsunami warnings can never come soon enough if the earthquake is close and you live on the flat. As everyone now understands, the earthquake itself is the warning. Those who live on the flat have to move immediately to higher ground.

The implications of this, however, are still unclear. A mass movement to higher ground will cause traffic jams and clogged roads. So what can be done for those trapped on dangerous lower ground? In Japan, special high buildings in low-lying areas have been designated as refuges. Wellington has hardly started to think about building similar structures here.

The second lesson was one for politicians in particular. It is now clear that mayor Justin Lester moved too quickly to declare the city open for business. The quake had done far more damage than the early inspections showed. Further checks showed that some major buildings were in fact dangerous and some even needed to be demolished.

The quake is also a reminder that after any natural disaster the politicians are necessarily secondary to the technical experts. Lester declared the city open after taking advice. Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel, speaking after the Canterbury fires, has a short answer to critics who accuse her of being too slow to respond: ‘‘I’m not a firefighter.’’

There is some validity in her response. Those who stood down firefighters in the early phase of the fire were themselves firefighting experts. The public, especially those whose houses were threatened or burnt, have no patience with this. But sometimes the experts are right.

We still don’t know how far the problem of earthquake-damaged buildings in Wellington goes. Some modern hitech buildings such as Defence House and Statistics House might still need to be razed. Technical investigations continue.

The widespread assumption that modern buildings will withstand a quake is now under question. These structures might remain standing and all would have allowed the safe evacuation of people if the quake had occurred during working hours instead of in the middle of the night.

But the popular notion that the buildings would remain usable has now been shattered. The technical experts will in due course answer the question of whether these buildings should have performed better. What that might mean for the building code is anyone’s guess.

The quake is also, of course, a reminder to everyone that their first responsibility is to ensure their own family’s safety. That means having emergency water and food supplies and ensuring the house is as earthquake-proof as it can reasonably be. When the earthquake strikes, we really are on our own.

The Kaikoura shake was a wake-up call for Wellington