Eight seconds that changed an earthquake engineer’s life

Eight seconds that changed an earthquake engineer’s life

Ken Elwood was attending a seminar on the seismic performance of buildings in the Christchurch CBD on February 22, 2011 when the earthquake that devastated the central city struck.

Ken Elwood was attending a seminar on the seismic performance of buildings in the Christchurch CBD on February 22, 2011 when the earthquake that devastated the central city struck.

Almost five years on, Professor Elwood, a Canadian by birth and former Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia, is now the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Chair in Earthquake Engineering at the University of Auckland.

“I was drawn to New Zealand after Christchurch,” he says. “I was with colleagues and friends from the University of Auckland that day and it made me realise even more directly the importance of learning as much as we possibly can from each and every earthquake event.”

Professor Elwood delivers his inaugural lecture, “Inspired by Christchurch: A reflection on a career in earthquake engineering” this week at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering.

Christchurch was Professor Elwood’s first experience of an earthquake as it happened but not his first experience of the devastation major seismic events can cause: he visited Indonesia, China and Chile on scientific reconnaissance missions after significant earthquakes and saw the disastrous effect of the 1999 Turkey earthquake on concrete and masonry buildings.

“They were older concrete buildings not built to stringent building codes, leading to over 17,000 deaths, and since then I have felt particularly passionate about research and knowledge on older concrete buildings and their vulnerability to significant damage from seismic events.”

Professor Elwood joined the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering in 2014 after 11 years at the University of British Columbia. He is a Director of New Zealand’s newest Centre of Research Excellence, QuakeCoRE: the Centre for Earthquake Resilience and a member of national and international committees and organisations focused on earthquake risk reduction.

“The lessons from Christchurch are still unfolding,” he says. “The performance of concrete buildings during that event and the widespread demolition that was necessary afterwards highlights the importance of clear guidance on how we repair damaged infrastructure.”

This free public lecture is on Wednesday 28 October, 5-6pm in ground floor lecture theatre 401.439, 20 Symonds St, Auckland.

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