By Annabelle Tukia
The Christchurch quakes have sent a tremor the length of the country.
Months after the February quake, buildings in many places are being inspected to see if they would survive a big one – and in a lot of cases they won't.
Temporary fences are hurriedly being erected outside the entrance to Lincoln University's Hilgendorf building. Seismic assessments in the past few days have placed it below 33 percent of current building standards.
The vice-chancellor says it's the second building they've had to close, months after the earthquakes.
"We'll do some more assessments and analysis with the engineers and with the insurers and decide what the next steps are, and clearly major works on those buildings is a possibility but so is replacement," says Roger Field.
Dozens of aging public buildings around the country are facing a similar fate. One building at Ashburton Hospital was evacuated yesterday when its seismic risk was classified as 'high'.
And just last week six courthouses around the country were closed, including three in the lower North Island.
That's 10 months since the big February quake – but earthquake engineers say that's to be expected as detailed results of seismic assessments are only just becoming available now.
The PSA's Richard Wagstaff says with a number of public buildings at risk of closure in the future, there needs to be a nationwide system to ensure every unreinforced masonry building is inspected.
"It's time now there was a consistent approach. We don't want to each department doing their own thing, wondering what to do with staff, wondering what standard to meet."
3 News