Are Rotorua's buildings earthquake-ready?

It is not known how well older Rotorua buildings would cope in an earthquake but newer buildings should be all right, according to experts.
Buildings constructed before 1976 may not have been strengthened to the standards now required by the Building Act to reduce the level of earthquake risk, Rotorua District Council building services manager Darrell Holder says.
The council has not started checking for earthquake-prone buildings since a policy was established in 2004.
In 2009, the council decided to suspend assessment of buildings because of the economic climate.
All councils are required to have a policy on earthquake-prone buildings as part of requirements under the Building Act 2004. Following assessments, authorities are to let building owners know of any problems which would then need to be remedied.
However, Rotorua buildings have not been assessed, so it is not known how those built before 1976, when stricter building standards were established, would cope in an earthquake.
Mr Holder said buildings would have been assessed and inspected for strength in an earthquake only if an owner applied for a building consent or change of use.
New Zealand is split into earthquake zones A, B and C - A being the most likely to be hit by an earthquake. Rotorua is in zone A and Christchurch in zone B, so building standards were slightly higher in Rotorua, Mr Holder said.
Rotorua engineer Brett Walshe said he would be happy if Rotorua buildings stood up as well in a serious earthquake as many of those in Christchurch did.
The director of BSK Consulting and a group of other Rotorua engineers had been in Christchurch to help assess buildings for safety and learned a lot about how different buildings reacted in earthquakes. He said the severity of the Christchurch earthquake actually exceeded a lot of current design values so, considering that, the buildings had stood up well.
"If we got an event the same as that in Christchurch, I think I'd be pretty happy if [Rotorua] buildings behaved in the same way."
However, Mr Walshe said there were quite a few old, unreinforced masonry-foundation buildings in Rotorua constructed before 1976 which would be at risk if they had not been strengthened.
"I can think of a few buildings around Rotorua which I know I wouldn't want to be near in an earthquake."
He would not say which buildings concerned him but said the canopies and facades fell off older buildings in Christchurch and he expected the same sort of thing would happen in Rotorua if there were a large earthquake.
Most modern buildings behaved very well and it was reasonable to expect any Rotorua buildings designed in the past 20 to 30 years, or buildings that had been strengthened, to perform well.
However, there was still room for improvement and a number of places in Rotorua his firm had looked at needed work which the owners had shied away from given the costs involved.
"We really have to educate building owners on what needs to be done. Strengthening in older buildings when done well is effective," he said.
"Building owners must not see strengthening as a cost, they must see it as an investment."
Mr Walshe said the fact Rotorua had few multi-storey buildings was a good thing.
Rotorua's harsh environment meant a lot of old buildings had already been pulled down.