Christchurch - chch quake lessons from Japan

The pace of reconstruction in Sendai, Japan, was recently compared to that of post-quake Christchurch. But the coincidental timing of earthquakes on February 22, 2011 in Christchurch and March 11, 2011, off the Tohoku coast is where comparisons should end. Not only are the disasters a world apart, even fewer parallels can be made with insurance issues and the scale of recovery.

I worked as a chef in Fukushima Prefecture (province) in 1996 to 1997 where I met my wife Kazumi, and spent a further six years in Tokyo from 2000, based mostly at The Westin Hotel. Recently, I have been operating a business in Kaiapoi and living in Christchurch during Canterbury's own seismic disasters. Last month I spent two weeks in Japan travelling from Kobe to Kesennuma.

The 9.0 2011 earthquake off Japan's north east coast killed more than 16,000 people. More than 4 million homes had no power; 1.5 million homes were without water; 300 hospitals were damaged and land sunk 30-80cms along the length of the coast. Vital factories and warehouses were swept inland, ports and docks rendered useless.

Two years on, only the concrete foundations of houses remain. Huge spans of elevated coastal rail tracks remain missing. Swathes of land stand unproductive due to salt deposited as water evaporated changing the soil pH. Mountains of debris are still being sorted.

We drove 100km along the coast from Kesennuma to Matsushima and signs on lamp posts showed the tsunami evacuation zone indicating heights 12m to 23m in those areas. We had covered a relatively small distance and the level of utter devastation was mostly absolute. There is far more similarity for Canterbury with the 1995 Kobe quake in Japan.

The magnitude 7.3 'Great Hanshin Earthquake' struck Kobe during winter at a depth of 16km and killed 6434 people. The east side of Kobe was damaged far more than the west; liquefaction hit Rokko Island close to the port. Twenty percent of buildings were severely damaged, losing a lot of CBD office space. 120,000 houses were destroyed. Traditional houses collapsed under their heavy tiled roofs designed for typhoon resistance, crushing many on the ground floors. Yet buildings built to Japan's 1981 code stood up to the forces. More than 1.2 million homes were without water, traffic was congested and fires started from gas mains rupturing could not be fought.

One month later water was restored to over 1 million of those homes. Utilities were restored in just two years, highways finished in 18 months. Only 30 percent of train lines were operational but it took only seven months for full services to begin. The 4000m long Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was finished within two years, linking with Shikoku.

1.4 million people volunteered to help Kobe in 1995, most less than 30 years old. Temporary shopping precincts were set up. Local government quickly erected 48,000 temporary houses on public land (only 2000 were in stock), the last was dismantled after just five years such was the speed of their rebuild. Waste equalling nine years of normal disposal had to be dealt with.

Community groups were very active to get consensus regarding the shape and future design of space. The elderly, the disabled and others most vulnerable were the first to be resettled in new apartment buildings.

Residents were given rent subsidies of approximately 25 percent of the market rate for 20 years to encourage settlement in the city. This subsidy will end in about two years.

I ask the EQC, Government and insurance companies: How does the Christchurch recovery compare to Kobe?