New Zealand The sequence of earthquakes and aftershocks in New Zealand offers significant risk management lessons.


“New Zealand, I think, for us in California in particular, is going to be a very important earthquake to follow.”


Laurie Johnson, Lexington Insurance


The earthquakes in New Zealand are offering unprecedented risk management lessons for other earthquake-prone areas. Since the initial magnitude 7.1 earthquake, significant aftershocks have occurred about every six months. The tremendous damage to buildings in downtown Christchurch and widespread liquefaction in its eastern suburbs offer lessons for public policymakers, who have pursued major buyouts of houses and deconstruction of downtown buildings in the name of safety. The demolition of damaged buildings is enabling detailed analysis of building failures. In addition, geotechnical studies will provide important lessons about liquefaction that will help apply to bay margins and coastal and riverine areas in earthquake prone regions of the U.S.


Copyright © 2012 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise.


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