When the Siren Goes - All Audio
- When the Siren Goes Episode 1 – An Overview of Hazards
- A tour of the National Crisis Management Centre – otherwise known as the Beehive Bunker – to witness at first hand a civil defence training exercise opens a programme which also looks at how New Zealand’s inhabited history includes earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, catastrophic floods, storms, and tsunamis. The role of the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management is explored, but the focus is primarily on how everyone is encouraged to prepare for the possibility of having to fend for themselves in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. (duration: 23′37″)
- Top 17 hazards facing New Zealand
- A Morning Report package by Beverley Tse about the major hazards facing New Zealand.
Morning Report, 3 October 2007 (duration: 2′05″) - Civil Defence Alert
- In a Civil Defence emergency, an official broadcast on radio may be announced by this audio. (duration: 0′40″)
- Tour of Beehive Bunker
- Harry Orr from the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management takes Jerome Cvitanovich on a tour of the National Crisis Management Centre, also known as the Beehive Bunker.
Recorded March 2008 (duration: 6′51″) - When the Siren Goes Episode 2 – Earthquakes
- This programme explores what happens when earthquakes occur, looking at the science behind the study of major fault lines, and tracing the history of a catastrophic event in the Wellington-Wairarapa area in 1855. Lessons drawn from that event are woven into present-day civil defence planning, resulting in events like the Capital Quake Exercise, a nationwide simulation based on a 7.6 magnitude earthquake rupturing the Wellington Fault and causing substantial damage across central New Zealand. (duration: 22′15″)
- The Day the Earth Shifted in 1855
- On 23rd February 1855, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake – the most powerful ever recorded in New Zealand – rocked the southern part of the North Island. In this documentary, Jack Perkins explores what happened through the reading of archival letters and journals, field recording, and interviews with historical and scientific experts. The documentary provides a vivid glimpse of what it must have been like at the time, and reflects on what its implications are for us today. It includes a recording of a 100-year-old woman recalling her memory of the event when she was aged five.
NRP0435, broadcast Sun 2 Jul 2006 (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 49′09″) - Conducting a seismic survey
- Surrounded by lush Central Otago hills and paddocks, a team of researchers are laying microphones along the ground. They’ve got a sledgehammer poised over a steel plate and an improvised shotgun ready to shoot into the topsoil. What on earth are they up to? They’re geologists out on a seismic survey – monitoring echoes from different rock strata underground to build up a picture of an unmapped fault line. Andrew Gorman and Claudina Curran from the University of Otago show Dacia Herbulock that you don’t always need highly sophisticated equipment to get the job done.
Our Changing World segment 13 December 2007 (duration: 12′08″) - After the Inangahua Earthquake of 1968
- On 24 May 1968 an earthquake hit Inangahua Junction, a tiny farming, sawmilling and coal mining community 40km east of Westport on the South Island's West Coast. The damage was severe, as 70% of the dwellings in the town were left uninhabitable.
This documentary recorded immediately after the event includes accounts by numerous residents of the devastation they had lived through. Produced and presented by Jim Henderson.
Sa-t-0628-pm After the Earthquake (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 29′00″) - Bay of Plenty Earthquake in 1987
- Ten years after the event, Jack Perkins assembles a group of Edgecumbe residents to relive the experience, and trace its effects not only on the landscape but on their own lives. The result is a documentary which focuses on the immediate emotional and psychological responses to disaster, but also the legacy of its aftermath.
CDR 1084 Spectrum 954 (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 29′48″) - New directions in geohazard research
- Quincy Marr, Jan Lindsay and Peter Melon from the Institute of Earth Science and Engineering at the University of Auckland talk to Dean Williams about the business of studying volcanic hazards, and geotechnical and earthquake engineering. Dean also interviews George Hooper from the Earthquake Commission, which has recently contributed significant funding to the institute.
Our Changing World segment 10 May 2007 (duration: 10′37″) - When the Siren Goes Episode 3 – Volcanoes
- Beginning with a remarkable recording of an eyewitness recalling the Mt Tarawera eruption of 1886, the programme looks at what would happen in Auckland if a volcano were to erupt. The conclusions of current research are set out, along with a scientific explanation of how and why eruptions occur. An Auckland primary school is visited to see how effective disaster planning is, and a volcanologist reflects on how New Zealanders would face the challenge of living off the land. (duration: 23′50″)
- Eyewitness account of 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption – Part One
- The first of a two-part interview with Mr A J Parks – who in 1886 was a 17 year old timber mill worker at Rotoiti – recalling the Mt Tarawera eruption nearly 70 years after the event.
DCDR73-TK7 (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 11′37″) - Eyewitness account of 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption – Part Two
- The second of a two-part interview with Mr A J Parks – who in 1886 was a 17 year old timber mill worker at Rotoiti – recalling the Mt Tarawera eruption nearly 70 years after the event.
DCDR72 (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 15′52″) - Mt Ruapehu erupts in 1995
- On 25 September 1995, Mt Ruapehu began erupting. Track the dramatic news as it developed overnight, from news bulletins which begin at 11pm through to coverage on Morning Report at 6am, and during the afternoon and evening which follows. The 2pm bulletin includes a live interview with a local resident at Rangitau (5km east of the mountain) who had been observing the increasing scale of eruptions.
860A, 860B (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 33′39″) - Mt Ruapehu lahar in 1997
- Snow groomer Shane Buckingham talks to Checkpoint about witnessing a lahar from the Mt Ruapehu eruption on 25 September 2007.
sa-cp-070926 (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 6′42″) - Raoul Island’s geothermal characteristics
- Veronika Meduna introduces a report from Todd Niall who travelled to Raoul Island, part of the Kermadec Islands located 1000 km to the north of New Zealand. While on the island, he talks to GNS Science volcanologist Brad Scott about the unique geothermal activity which is found there.
Our Changing World segment 12 October 2006 (duration: 10′33″) - Exercise Ruamoko in 2008
- Last month a series of tremors under Auckland culminated in a devastating volcanic eruption. The explosive blast shattered windows, damaged buildings, killed and injured people in a three-kilometre radius from the eruption site. If you missed that news, it's probably because this was hypothetical volcano, created by geologists for a real-time national disaster preparedness exercise, called Exercise Ruaumoko. Dacia Herbulock speaks to Jan Lindsey of the University of Auckland and Steve Sherburn of GNS Science about their role in the event, and about scientists' contributions to natural disaster planning - in theory and in real life.
Our Changing World segment 10 April 2008 (duration: 13′42″) - When the Siren Goes Episode 4 – Tsunamis
- A scientist analyses the long history of tsunamis in this country, and what people near the shore should do in the event of a tsunami like the one which struck Whitianga in 1960. The work of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre works is explained, along with the warning it issued in 2006 that a tsunami might hit the East Coast of the North Island, and the lessons to be taken from the way in which Gisborne locals behaved. The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami is discussed through an interview about a scientific survey undertaken by a Kiwi scientist in Sri Lanka after the event. (duration: 23′34″)
- 2004 Boxing Day news bulletin about the Indian Ocean Tsunami
- On 26 December 2004, a devastating tsunami was generated by a big earthquake off the Indonesian coast in the Indian Ocean. Eight hours after the event, the full extent of the disaster was not known. The earthquake struck at 2pm New Zealand time, and the tsunami affected eleven countries around the Indian Ocean rim. Listen to the opening of the day’s 10pm news bulletin on Radio New Zealand National.
sa-04219-01-o (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 2′56″) - A tsunami in Whitianga in 1960
- Ron Ross, who had over 50 years experience of the waters off the Coromandel Peninsula. In this extract from a Spectrum programme, he tells Jack Perkins of his adventures watching the effects of a giant tidal wave which hit the coastal settlement of Whitianga in May 1960. Broadcast April 1993.
CDR 104 Spectrum 787 Coastal boats and Tidal Waves (Sound Archives reference) (duration: 11′19″) - When the Siren Goes Episode 5 – Snowstorms
- Focusing on the massive snowstorm of 2006 which had collapsed roofs, blocked roads, felled power lines and cut communication in Canterbury, this programme hears from those involved in managing the emergency response, and locals who were left to their own devices. A self-help group, the Mid Canterbury Emergency Relief charitable trust, played a key role in deciding where snow rakers should be put to work, and by the end of the week after the snowfall, it had successfully removed 12,000 stock from danger. (duration: 23′50″)
- News bulletin about 2006 Canterbury snowstorm
- 5.00pm news bulletin on 12 June 2006 about the first major snowfall of the year. Major disruption occurred all over the South Island, but Canterbury was particularly hard hit.
sa-cp-06061 (Sound archives reference) (duration: 1′16″) - When the Siren Goes Episode 6 – Floods
- Of all the natural hazards affecting the country, floods have had the most impact on the biggest number of people. They’re the most common and the biggest source of insurance claims in any given year, and a number of interviewees talk vividly about their experiences both as survivors, scientists studying how floods occur, and civil defence personnel dealing with the problems they present. (duration: 23′20″)
- Flooding in Palmerston North in 1988
- A report and interview on the overnight evacuation of 1000 residents from Highbury and Awapuni because of the fast-rising water level.
C880725A Flooding in Palmerston North (Sounds Archive reference) (duration: 3′56″) - Recovering from the Rangitikei Floods, 2004
- A month after a devastating flood in the Wanganui-Rangitikei area, Susan Murray visits the region, hearing from farmers, local children, and regional and government officials. A Country Life feature broadcast on 19 March 2004.
04/67/01 Flooding in Palmerston North (Sounds Archive reference) (duration: 29′51″) - Fault Lines
- A special feature about the residents of Canterbury, beginning at the moment when they were jolted awake at 4.35am on Saturday 4 September, and exploring what happened in the days and weeks which followed. The focus of the 50-minute programme is on the personal experiences of those affected. (duration: 42′04″)
- Broken River extended version
- Days after the city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, This Way Up's presenter Simon Morton traverses the city using the Avon River as his route. Travelling on a bicycle from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary in the East, where the Avon meets the Pacific, everyone has a story to tell. (duration: 43′45″)
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