Gisborne District Council is marking the 14th anniversary of the 2007 Gisborne earthquake, which registered a magnitude of 6.8.
The quake, which struck at 8:55pm, lasted for 32 seconds. While no fatalities and major fires were recorded, damage to property was widespread. According to the council, over $50 million in claims were received by the Earthquake Commission - $29 million was for residential property claims while commercial claims totalled $27 million.
Property owners filed 2,928 content claims, 1,582 chimney claims and 1,799 interior damage claims.
Ian Petty, the building services manager of the Gisborne District Council, said the six months after the earthquake was an “extremely busy” time. The council evaluated affected buildings and the strengthening time frame for quake-prone buildings was shortened to 10 years.
Due to numerous fallen parapets, the council rewrote its earthquake-prone building insurance policy to include parapets as separate building items.
“We gave everyone two years to strengthen their parapets and that worked,” Petty said. “No-one got hurt and it highlighted safety issues that owners needed their buildings strengthened.”
Following the quake, around 140 buildings were deemed in need of strengthening. Today, around 26 have yet to complete strengthening work, with most due by September 2022.
According to Petty, several buildings are already overdue, and the council may consider taking enforcement actions next year.
As Gisborne is a coastal city, Civil Defence manager Ben Green reminded residents to prepare for tsunamis following a strong earthquake.
“If you are in an area zoned in red, orange or yellow on the tsunami inundation maps, please make sure you know where the higher ground is and how long it takes to get there,” said Green, who added that the evacuation plans should not involve taking a vehicle if possible.
“If everyone jumps in their cars, our roads would get blocked.”
