Are we prepared for the Big One?

Many Wellingtonians might not be able to cope if a natural hazard such as a major earthquake strikes, according to research by Victoria University PhD graduate Shabana Khan.

Dr Khan spent three years looking at the natural hazards that the Wellington region is exposed to - including earthquakes, flooding, landslides and drought - and investigated their influences on the hazard response of both local residents and the administration.

"I studied the influences of Wellington's hazardscape on the response of local residents and from the administration in dealing with civil defence and city/district planning," says Dr Khan.

Her research looked at the hazardscape of the Wellington region by assessing its physical susceptibility, human vulnerability and occurrence of hazards, through collecting data from multiple sources. This included pre-existing research, books, historical records, census data, newspapers and interviews with local civil defence officers and resource planners - as well as 112 schedules and 160 questionnaires conducted with residents across the eight territorial authorities of the Wellington region.

"I found that there is a great degree of variation in how prepared people are for a natural disaster, depending not only on age, gender and awareness, but also on location and the particular hazard. For example, people who live in rural parts of the Wairarapa are better prepared for floods and droughts, while urban Wellingtonians are more attuned to earthquakes and many have prepared themselves for that eventuality."

Her research also found that integrated regional planning tends to provide a uniform response to hazards in the Wellington region.

"But the hazardscape introduces variations in the local response, so it can be argued that a detailed analysis of the local hazardscape is essential for effective hazard and response management."

Dr Khan, who completed an Honours, Masters and MPhil degrees in geography at Delhi University in India, says there is also the need for better interaction and feedback between city/district planners and civil defence emergency management teams.

"Better linkages between these two groups would ensure a robust hazardscape management, where solutions would be based on the root causes of local hazards rather than superficial methods that may not necessarily solve people's problems."

Dr Khan, who was supported in her Science degree by Victoria University, is currently writing papers based on her thesis. She has plans to continue her research on hazards and disaster in the future.