Looking to the Future for Seismic Design – Considerations to improve NZ resilience 

Didier Pettinga, Charlotte Toma, Max Stephens and Brabhaharan Pathmanathan 

Like any field of applied science and technology, every so often earthquake engineering will experience a major shift in direction. In New Zealand a shift was forced on us following the Canterbury earthquake sequence, with expectations of what that shift should represent arguably reinforced by the Kaikoura earthquake. We have necessarily questioned our understanding and interpretation of resilient seismic design, and in many respects this has us juggling more uncertainty about the path forwards than we might otherwise have chosen. Addressing some of the key issues in-front of us, such as low-damage seismic design, improving knowledge of our seismic hazard, and balancing robustness with sustainable material use, we need to manage some contradicting goals.

To find a pathway forwards we need to satisfy ourselves, and the end-users of our efforts, that we have the right breadth in interpreting resilience. Noting the significant body of research and lessons-learned here and overseas from the past decade+, this discussion will focus on how clarity and simplicity of application should remain front-and-centre of our efforts to appropriately provide for resilience, and uncertainty.