Victoria University’s Proffessor John McClure writes in the Sunday Star Times about the lack of preparation of many for a large earthquake.
An excerpt: (read in full here) “People say we can’t afford to prepare for earthquakes, but the economic costs of not preparing are much greater, as are the personal and social costs. No commercial building built to current standards has collapsed in the recent earthquake, or led to loss of life, even if one is mortally damaged. If all the buildings in Christchurch met current building standards, possibly no one would have died and the buildings might also have survived. We need to prepare better and some key actions, like storing bottles of water, don’t cost a lot.”