Eloise Gibson of the NZ Herald reports that GNS scientists will be spending the next 6 months travelling around the Pacific to assess the risk to infrastructure of another major natural disaster.
The infrastructure to be looked at will include roads, houses, pipes and workplaces, with particular reference to the placement of much of the region’s infrastructure near the coast.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“The project leader, Phil Glassey of GNS, said that like New Zealand with its leaky homes issues some Pacific countries had had problems with building code compliance.
“In some places it was difficult to find building materials, such as concrete aggregate.
“Compounding the danger was that many desirable places for tourist and other accommodation were on the coast, leaving them potentially vulnerable to storm surges and tsunami.”