Case Studies • 61
Case studies of Disaster Risk Reduction in practice Museum of New Zealand / Te Papa Tongarewa In 2016, the Kaikoura earthquake (magnitude 7.8) struck the South Island of New Zealand. The Museum of New Zealand /Te Papa Tongarewa was almost completely unharmed by the earthquake. The museum is sited close to a fault line, and had been built to withstand a one-in-500 years earthquake, of magnitude 10. The building sits on large rubber blocks (called ‘base isolators’) that absorb the shock and vibration of earthquakes, helping to protect the building, people and collections. The public can visit the base isolators, and learn about the construction and disaster risk. The base isolators help mitigate the impact of earthquakes (which the museum is exposed to through its location), building institutional and infrastructure resilience. The educational aspects support societal resilience.
Chuetsu Earthquake Memorial Corridor The Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake occurred in 2004, on Honshu, the main island of Japan. Four museums were developed in the Chuetsu Earthquake Memorial Corridor to act as cultural hubs, to preserve memory of the event, and to reduce future disaster risk through awareness and education. The four museums focus on different aspects of the earthquake and of Disaster Risk Reduction, and were important in communities’ recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. 5 5 Hayashi (2016).
