China Earthquake Focus of Public Presentation in Napier

On Wednesday 29 April, there will be a public presentation in Napier on the Wenchuan earthquake by the New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineers (NZSEE) reconnaissance team.

The presentation will be at the Hawke's Bay Regional Council’s Chamber in Dalton St, Napier from 1.00-2.30 pm and is open to the public.

The presentation is being hosted by the Hawke’s Bay Emergency Lifelines Group and the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group.

On 12 May last year, a Magnitude 8 earthquake, which is large by world standards, occurred in the Wenchuan County of the Sichuan Province of China.

In November 2008, a NZSEE reconnaissance team of five visited the area to observe the impact of the earthquake and the recovery work. As a result of the strong earthquake, there was severe damage in the county over an area of 30,000 sq km including many devastated towns and cities. More than 5 million people were displaced and more than 70,000 people were killed.

The NZSEE team is - Jiashun Yu, GNS Science -Co-leader, Seismology; Philip Yong, Clendon Burns & Park Ltd - Co-Leader, Structures and Bridges; P Brabhaharan, OPUS Lifeline - Geotechnology; Stuart Read, GNS Science - Engineering Geology, Dams; and Meng Foon, Mayor of Gisborne -Emergency Management.

On the first anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, the NZSEE team is presenting their observations and the lessons relevant to New Zealand at meetings in Auckland, Napier, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington.