ABSTRACT
On 4 September 2010 at 4:35 a.m., the Canterbury region of New Zealand was shaken by a Richter Mw 7.1 earthquake. The epicentre was in Dareld, a town approximately 40 km west of Canterbury’s largest city, Christchurch. The intensities of the event in different geographic locations ranged from MM3 (felt but little damage) to MM9 (considerable damage – partial collapses) on the Modied Mercalli scale (USGS, 2009) as illustrated in Figure 10.1. There were no fatalities from the event (as a consequence of the early hour of the morning); however, extensive damage occurred to buildings and infrastructure, with signicant liquefaction effect on the soil, in many areas of the city. Organisations in both the rural and urban areas of the region already affected by the impacts of the global recession were now faced with recovery resulting from the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. The post-disaster environment offered many challenges but also many potential opportunities for organisations.
