Abstract
A ten-member team of engineers was deployed by NZAID and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering to assist Indonesian local and provincial agencies with rapid structural assessments of earthquake-affected buildings in and around Padang. This was the first time that a team of New Zealand engineers had been operationally deployed outside the Pacific region following a major earthquake.
 An accompanying paper describes the earthquake and its impacts, and the general observations of the team. This paper outlines the experiences of a team of 10 New Zealand structural engineers deployed on a volunteer basis for two weeks to undertake the deployment process, the arrangements that the team operated under in Padang, the tasks undertaken and the outputs and outcomes achieved. The lessons for building safety evaluation processes in New Zealand are also presented, along with the resulting enhancements to arrangements.
Highlights
The 2009 Padang earthquake occurred off the western coast of Sumatra, between Padang City and the coastal town of Pariaman
The NZ Engineering team has made the following recommendations to enhance New Zealand‘s post-disaster building safety evaluation arrangements: 1. Each New Zealand local authority should prepare specific arrangements for managing a building safety evaluation operation that may extend over several weeks in the event of a major earthquake or other disaster, as outlined in the NZSEE and DBH Guidelines document (NZSEE, 2009)
An updated version of the 2009 Guidelines document and associated material is due in the second half of 2010. This mission and the subsequent involvements have underlined that New Zealand earthquake engineering knowledge and experience can have considerable value in post-disaster situations
Summary
A ten-member team of engineers was deployed by NZAID and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering to assist Indonesian local and provincial agencies with rapid structural assessments of earthquake-affected buildings in and around Padang. This was the first time that a team of New Zealand engineers had been operationally deployed outside the Pacific region following a major earthquake. This paper outlines the experiences of a team of 10 New Zealand structural engineers deployed on a volunteer basis for two weeks to undertake the deployment process, the arrangements that the team operated under in Padang, the tasks undertaken and the outputs and outcomes achieved. The lessons for building safety evaluation processes in New Zealand are presented, along with the resulting enhancements to arrangements
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