The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission will begin public hearings in Christchurch on October 17.

The hearings on the issue of seismicity are expected to take about a week, and the royal commission has called for submissions on a report by the geoscience agency GNS Science about earthquake risk in Christchurch and the implications for the city and New Zealand’s national seismic hazard model.  

Other hearings will be held about other topics later this year and early next year.

The royal commission’s website contains the GNS Science report and another report for structural engineers that may identify when earthquake damage has occurred, even though it is not apparent.

Future reports will deal with the characteristics of land in the Christchurch CBD, new building construction methods and technologies, and the performance of unreinforced masonry buildings in the earthquakes.

The royal commission is inquiring into building failures from the February 22 quake.