Hundreds of the brightest and most experienced earthquake engineers from both academia and practice gathered in Christchurch last week to share knowledge and help make New Zealand more “seismically resilient”.

This year’s annual conference, supported by the Earthquake Commission (EQC), was held at the University of Canterbury and themed Turning Challenges into Positive Legacies.

President of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) Helen Ferner says the conference is an opportunity to review lessons from the devastating Canterbury earthquake sequence a decade ago and consider what more is needed.

“There are still plenty of challenges and new solutions ahead,” she said.

The conference came as scientists dig pits along the south Wairarapa Coast to better understand future risks to the greater Wellington region, which in 1855 was hit by a tsunami up to 11 metres high after the 8.2 magnitude Wairarapa earthquake.

The pits are aimed at unearthing shellfish that can be carbon-dated to determine when earthquakes occurred. The research is part of the It’s Our Fault project, which is funded by the EQC, Wellington City Council and Wellington Region Emergency Management Office.

Previously, the project identified that water pipes crossed the Wellington Fault at seven locations and authorities have since stored spare parts near those sites for quick repairs even in the event of transport interruptions. Wellington City Council is also now subsidising household water tanks.

“We will always be living with earthquake risk, but engineering advances in how we build and where we build can do a lot to reduce the impact of future earthquakes on people and property,” EQC’s Chief Resilience and Research Officer Jo Horrocks said.

The distinct natural terraces along the rugged Cape Palliser coastline tellingly reflect enormous forces pushing the seafloor to the surface. Scientists have done a lot of similar work along the North Island’s East Coast and the top of the South Island to find out more about the Hikurangi Subduction zone and other smaller faults.

“Once we can date the quakes on the south Wairarapa coast, we compare the data with those from other sites around Cook Strait which will tell us what fault caused the land movement,” research consultancy GNS Science’s earthquake geologist Nicola Litchfield says.