Sentinel Blog

Many businesses look to the wrong data to make key decisions about their people and buildings in the immediate aftermath of an event.  

The Alpine Fault. Its next earthquake is overdue, making it quite possible that most Kiwis alive today will see it rupture in a magnitude-8 earthquake, leading scientists say. When it does, the entire South Island will be affected on some level; roads and railways broken or blocked, rivers dammed or diverted, many buildings damaged to some degree. Some towns will be cut off completely, possibly for months. And it’s not just the “big one” itself – there will be an entire sequence of multiple magnitude 7, 6 and 5 quakes rippling up and down the island for years afterward.

Earthquakes are a fact of life in New Zealand; they will happen again. Christchurch in particular has a history of damaging earthquakes – and not just since 2010. Since 1840, large earthquakes have shaken Christchurch about once every 10 years.