QuakeKit: Communicating Engineering Risks to Youth in the South Island of New Zealand

Abstract

QuakeKit is a collaborative project through QuakeCoRE, AF8 [Alpine Fault magnitude 8], Canterbury Seismic Instruments (CSI), and University of Canterbury, funded by the Unlocking Curious Minds fund. QuakeKit has two parts: the installation of seismometers in schools around the Alpine Fault and an education session at each school. During part 1, the seismometers are installed in the schools and connected to the CSI Sentinel app, which following major shaking will instantly evaluate the building’s status based on measured ground shaking and the New Zealand design code, and sends alerts directly to the principal of the school along with the local Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Emergency Management Officer (EMO). The alerts immediately display potential damage to the building via a "traffic light" status. Part 2 consists of visits to schools which participated in the 2019 AF8 Roadshow. The visits include:

Education session about the seismometers that were installed and more information about earthquakes and the Alpine Fault. An activity to build the tallest tower which is tested on a shake table and given the same "traffic light" system to denote the building damage. A talk from the local EMO to better understand local hazards. An activity which allows the students to swing a sledgehammer onto the ground in order to analyse seismic waves (via MASW testing method) at each site. The purpose of this paper is to present the process of the education sessions aimed at improving understanding and communication of seismic hazards and risks.