Seismic screening of Anglican churches in the Waikato and Taranaki regions of New Zealand

Abstract

Inherent architectural characteristics of churches cause this building type to be particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. These architectural attributes, combined with non-ductile materials such as unreinforced masonry (URM) and early reinforced concrete (RC), have been shown to perform poorly in earthquakes worldwide. In New Zealand, damage from the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes resulted in the demolition of several churches having significant historic, architectural, and social importance. In an effort to prevent further destruction of church architecture in New Zealand due to earthquakes, a screening framework that identified the risk and vulnerability factors of churches was developed, based on international literature and church damage observations following the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes. This screening framework was applied to an inventory of church buildings located in the Waikato and Taranaki regions of New Zealand. The inventory contains 79 churches (65% timber, 13% URM, 16% concrete, and 6% concrete masonry) that were built between 1845 and 1988. General construction data along with architectural, structural, and seismic risk assessment information was gathered for each building in the inventory. Statistics about the church inventory including church typology are presented, and preliminary discussion about the seismic risk and vulnerability of the inventory is provided herein.