Canterbury Earthquake Recovery

At 4:35am on 4 September 2010, a Magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck near Darfield, Canterbury. This marked the start of a devastating sequence of four major earthquakes and more than 10,000 aftershocks. The most destructive was the Magnitude 6.2 earthquake on 22 February 2011, centred near Christchurch’s CBD.

These events caused:

• Building collapses in the CBD. Also ~80% of the buildings in the CBD needed to be demolished and rebuilt.

• Rockfalls and landslides across the Port Hills.

• Widespread liquefaction in the eastern suburbs.

• Over 650,000 insurance claims, including 168,000 to private insurers.
  

The scale of property damage and land instability required rapid, expert assessments to determine safe repair or rebuild options. Cook Costello mobilised a large team of geotechnical and structural engineers to support the recovery effort. We worked with insurers, claim providers, and private property owners to:

• Assess more than 10,000 residential properties.

• Carry out structural damage assessments and design repairs and/or strengthening works for hundreds of commercial and industrial buildings.

• Deliver several thousands of geotechnical and structural reports to help progress claims.

• Provide tailored recommendations for land and building repairs.

• Design and supervise the repair of over 1,000 residential buildings.

Where properties could not be economically repaired, our team designed efficient, compliant rebuild solutions that reflected the increased seismic hazard and evolving legislation. We also undertook Detailed Seismic Assessments (DSAs) and designed strengthening works to meet the requirements of the Earthquake-Prone Building Act.

By combining engineering expertise with in-house project management, Cook Costello delivered:

• Confidence for insurers and property owners through accurate, defensible assessments.

• Safe, practical, and compliant repair solutions tailored to site conditions.

• Efficient claim resolution during one of New Zealand’s largest natural hazard recovery programmes.

• Future resilience through seismic strengthening and rebuilds that met updated standards.
  

Delivering this large-scale, time-critical programme while maintaining strong client relationships demonstrates Cook Costello’s capability, commitment, and adaptability in the face of national disasters.