17 Jun 2010

Chile quake 'shows up' NZ's preparedness

8:09 pm on 17 June 2010

A team of experts who visited Chile after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in that country in February says New Zealand is not sufficiently prepared for a quake of a similar size.

The joint mission by members of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, and Australia's equivalent, included engineers, researchers and government officials.

Team members say building codes and practices do not go far enough to protect against damage to non-structural components such as glazing, ceilings and plastering.

They say New Zealand's current codes are similar to those in Chile, which is suffering long-term social and economic damage from the destruction caused by the earthquake.