(A306) Community Resilience and the Christchurch Earthquake: Best Laid Plans or Practise Made Perfect?

Abstract

On February 22, 2011 at 12:51 pm an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck the city of Christchurch, population 376,700 in the South Island of New Zealand. This followed a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in September 2010, but the shallowness (5km) and proximity of the February earthquake to the central city, resulted in far more devastation, with Modified Mercalli scores reaching ten in some areas and upward ground acceleration exceeding 2.4G. The application of the Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) routinely used by New Zealand Civil Defence agencies was swift, innovative and efficient, facilitating rapid deployment of local and international emergency teams and response resources. The effectiveness of this response was partially attributed to lessons learnt from the September earthquake which, with hindsight, was a practise for the more serious February event. The community response was equally remarkable, with standard approaches to measuring preparedness and resilience suggesting that community resilience in Canterbury was high. A number of initiatives by the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management may have fostered some of this resilience,particularly community- based resilience-building projects initiated by the Regional Emergency Management Office on 2009 and 2010, supported by the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management. In addition, website education resources and media promotion (“Get Ready Get Thru”) and a travelling exhibition called “The Pandemic Roadshow” had been particularly well received and remembered by Canterbury residents. However, two key events provided an impetus for the Canterbury community to burnish its resilience. First, the Swine flu (AH1N1) pandemic in 2009 resulted in a greater awareness of public health in emergencies along with a doubling of neighbourhood support groups. Secondly, the September 2010 earthquake resulted in the establishment of the student army of volunteers and improvement of public information management. This presentation will describe the markers of community resilience following the Christchurch earthquake and discuss how such resilience can be fostered in communities where emergency preparedness is not recognised as a priority.