Counting the cost

The economic effects of a major earthquake

Abstract

The Wellington after the Quake conference, organised by the Earthquake Commission in Wellington in March 1995, sought to answer some of the questions faced by all concerned with the recovery and restoration phases of a major earthquake in a nationally significant city. The papers, which were by a range of international authorities, and the discussions were published later that year, and some copies of the volume are still available from the Earthquake Commission.

Then, in November 1996, the Earthquake Commission and the Insurance Council of New Zealand jointly sponsored a seminar on Natural Hazards: Finding, managing and sharing people and information, and a summary booklet was prepared as a record for those who attended and to inform those who were unable to attend.

This seminar, Counting the Cost: The economic effects of a major earthquake, was again sponsored jointly by the Earthquake Commission and the Insurance Council of New Zealand, with the intention of looking more closely at the economic effects of a major earthquake. It attracted about 200 participants, most coming from the insurance and banking industries, fund and risk managers, and economists in a range of organisations, although there were also representatives from emergency management and civil defence organisations, local and regional councils, and earthquake engineers.

This report on the information presented in the papers and discussions has been prepared to highlight the main conclusions and themes raised, for both the attendees and a wider audience who were unable to be present.