Science Media Centre

Christchurch’s freshwater wildlife is being smothered in silt, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Canterbury and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). The study, published today in the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, highlights the decline of wildlife in the city’s waterways following the Christchurch […]

Communicating vital information to the public during disasters is an essential, but sometimes daunting, responsibility for scientists and engineers. At the request of members of the natural hazards research community, the Science Media Centre hosted a workshop reflecting on challenges faced and lessons learned during recent major events, such as the Canterbury and Cook Strait quakes, the eruption of Mt […]

What does earthquake damage to buildings and structures during the Christchurch earthquakes mean for building design in the future? A new information paper launched today brings together the science and engineering expertise of several organisations — the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ), the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ), the Structural Engineering Society […]

As the land beneath Christchurch continues to shake due to ongoing aftershocks, residents are are seeking answers from the experts. In an ‘ask an expert’ article published today on the Press website, reader’s questions such as  “why so many aftershocks?”  are put to scientists from GNS. An excerpt (read the full article here): Ask an […]

Press Reporter Paul Gorman takes a look at how geo-scanning technology, previously used to detect potential rockfalls and landslides, is now being used to assess the stability of buildings in earthquake-struck Christchurch. An excerpt: (read in full here) Three-dimensional scans from the Riegl Z420i scanner, the only one of its kind in New Zealand, will […]

Media are invited to attend a press conference at 11am today on the scientific response to the Canterbury earthquake and how science will inform the recovery process. UPDATE: Audio now available below An extensive Q&A on the Canterbury earthquake and the recovery effort has been launched by the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Office […]

UPDATED – new comment below Recent media coverage has focused attention on unfounded claims that earthquakes can be predicted by various methods, some involving the moon’s influence on tidal forces which may “trigger” large quakes on already stressed fault lines. Scientists, including seismologists, geophysicists and psychologists, contacted the Science Media Centre today with comments in […]

In an effort to assist New Zealand-based rescue efforts, the journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness has published a series of open-access articles reviewing evidence from Haiti’s 2010 earthquake and other recent seismic disasters. The featured article, ‘Survival interval in earthquake entrapments‘ focuses on aiding decision-makers faced with the difficult task of weighing the […]

In the aftermath of yesterday’s 6.3 magnitude Christchurch earthquake , at least 39 people are known to have been killed (and possible hundreds of more), with people still being pulled from the wreckage. More than 11 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or over have also been recorded, with the most recent taking place early this morning. […]

Marty Sharpe writes in the Dominion Post that, for at least some of the people who experienced the Christchurch earthquake, it could take as little as 3 months to return to a state of ‘unrealistic optimism’. ‘Unrealistic optimisim’ is defined as people being unreasonably optimistic about their chances of experiencing a natural disaster, and while […]