A US earthquake recovery specialist that has sent a team to Christchurch says the destruction could bring about a dramatic shift in Christchurch's building codes.
Lon Determan from Miyamoto Associates told the ABC he expected authorities would order buildings to be substantially upgraded when rebuilt
Determan, who has helped earthquake recovery efforts worldwide, said: "You always have to balance cultural heritage with life safety.”
"You have to balance that with the costs of a full upgrade and providing some degree of life safety and reduced hazards.
"In other cases it may be signs of inadequate quality control during construction.
"Generally you have code cycles that address the lessons learned from each subsequent earthquake.
"How you get those addressed is through updating codes and potentially activating some certain city ordinances to require upgrades on buildings such as historical heritage buildings."
Christchurch claims some of the most stringent building codes in the world, however seismologists have been reported saying it still could not save the city from devastation.
A spokesperson for the NZ Master Builders Federation spokesman said it was not possible to guard against the unknown.
The earthquake ruined facade of a building in Christchurch (Image via: twitpic.com/42e08d: Sam Sutherland)
