Two new seismic resilience modules designed to help strengthen homes against earthquakes have been launched.
The modules were developed in a partnership between the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (NHC), Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the building industry.
“The new modules are based on the latest BRANZ research and real-world insights from the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes”, says David Carradine, Structures Team Leader at BRANZ.
“When you’re renovating, it’s the perfect time to make your home safer. These tools give builders the know-how to include simple but effective earthquake resilience upgrades – helping to protect families and homes when it matters most”.
Builders working on a renovation or new build now have clear, practical guidance on retrofitting existing homes to make them safer and stronger. The information looks to help ensure new builds meet seismic safety standards.
New Zealanders know the damage that earthquakes can do to our homes all too well, Natural Hazards Commission public education manager Hamish Armstrong reminds.
“Those past events have taught us a lot of lessons, including steps we can take to make our homes safer and stronger. Builders play a crucial role in this: helping ensure our homes, old and new, can best weather the challenges of future earthquake events.”
Bundling resilience into existing renovation work can be both cost- and time-efficient for homeowners. Renovations may also expose hidden structural issues that could make a home more vulnerable in an earthquake, such as undermined foundations, dug-out areas for extra storage, and the removal of load-bearing walls.
Unconsented changes, such as converting a basement or roof space into a bedroom, can impact a house’s ability to withstand shaking. Getting an engineer or builder involved early means that any risks can be identified and addressed before the job is completed — helping ensure the home remains safe and sound.
While the modules are open to all, for Licensed Building Practitioners (LBPs), completing the modules contributes to their required ongoing professional development. Each module counts as one Elective activity point for LBP skills maintenance.
The modules can be accessed on mobile devices, allowing builders to complete them at their convenience, even when they’re on the go. The module content can also be accessed later, allowing builders to refer back to any specific content they may need.
The initiative also supports the Government’s broader goal of improving the safety and performance of New Zealand’s built environment in the face of natural hazards. It aligns with recent work by MBIE and BRANZ to promote low-damage design and to share lessons learned from past disasters.
Beyond our homes, earthquakes can also reshape the land around us — and that poses new challenges for communities nationwide.
Recent research led by University of Canterbury PhD student Erin McEwan is shedding new light on a lesser-recognised consequence of earthquakes: their ability to reconfigure river courses, damage flood defences, and amplify flood risk long after the shaking stops.
By building the first comprehensive global database of quake-driven river changes and combining it with New Zealand’s fault maps and flood models, McEwan has created tools to help councils and communities anticipate how waterways may respond to seismic events.
Her modelling suggests that over 3,700 rivers nationwide could be vulnerable to earthquake-induced flooding if a fault beneath them ruptures, with more than 450 rivers comparable in scale to the Hororata River in Canterbury falling within that high-risk bracket. Quakes can redraw flood maps and put new areas at risk.
“It’s a very real hazard that we see again and again after large earthquakes,” says McEwan. “This research gives us tools to start predicting where those risks might be highest.”
Historical events already point to these dynamics. For example, the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake lowered part of the land into the Rangitaiki floodplain, inflicting damage to stop banks and contributing to ongoing flood risk decades later.
Likewise, the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes reconfigured drainage patterns and exposed new flood-vulnerable zones.
“We can’t stop earthquakes or floods — but we can help people be ready for them,” she says.
“My goal is to get this into the hands of councils and planners so they can run their own ‘what if’ scenarios and make smart decisions for their communities.”
Dr Natalie Balfour, Head of Research at NHC, says, “Damage from earthquakes isn’t just caused by shaking, which is why research that looks at the suite of related hazards is so important – it helps us understand the full picture of earthquake risk and gives decision-makers the science they need to plan ahead.
“From a planning perspective, knowing where flooding is more likely after a quake gives us a powerful new tool to protect people and properties.”
From individual households to regional floodplains, resilience is increasingly seen as a shared responsibility. As new tools empower both builders and planners, New Zealand is taking meaningful steps to live smarter, and safer, with earthquakes.
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