Understanding the wider social and economic context of post-earthquake cordons: A comparative case study between Christchurch, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and L’Aquila, Italy

Abstract

Post-earthquake cordons have been used after seismic events around the world. However, there is limited understanding of cordons and how contextual information such as geography, sociocultural characteristics, economy, and institutional and governance structures affects decisions and operational procedures, including aspects related to spatial and temporal attributes of cordon establishment. This research aims to fill the gap in cordon knowledge through a qualitative comparative case study of two cities: Christchurch, New Zealand (Mw 6.2 earthquake, February 2011) and L’Aquila, Italy (Mw 6.3 earthquake, 2009). Both cities suffered comprehensive damage to their city centers and had cordons established for extended periods of time. Data collection was done through purposive and snowball sampling whereby 23 key informants were interviewed in total. Research participants held expert knowledge in their roles and responsibilities, that is, council members, emergency managers, politicians, business/insurance representatives, academics, and police. Results illustrate that cordons were primarily established to ensure safety of people and to maintain security. The extent and duration of the cordons were affected by the recovery approaches taken in respective cities, that is, in Christchurch demolition was widely undertaken which supported recovery and allowed for faster removal of cordons. In contrast, authorities in L’Aquila placed high value on heritage buildings which led to recovery strategy based on preserving and restoring most of the buildings which extended the duration of cordon. Extended cordons have many similarities but evolve overtime. This evolution of cordons is affected by site-specific needs; thus, cordons should be understood and planned based on contextual realities.

Context, culture, and cordons: The feasibility of post-earthquake cordons learned through a case study in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

“…The results and discussion are presented together for this study following the same approach used for previous case studies (Shrestha et al, 2021, 2022). In this article, the analysis of the data has reinforced the results that were observed in the previous Christchurch and L’Aquila case studies and provided new insights into the use of cordons in a post-earthquake scenario.…”

“…In Kathmandu Valley, cordons were established around some temples and heritage sites while still providing access to the local community or priests to allow people to continue their daily rituals of worship ( puja ). In L’Aquila, similar efforts went into saving damaged heritage buildings in order to protect the cultural heritage of the city (Shrestha et al, 2022). This response and recovery approach to secure and rehabilitate buildings greatly influenced the decisions and operationalization of cordons in the historic city center of L’Aquila.…”

“…Many people crossed the barricades erected around their homes to retrieve belongings, secure their property, and even shelter in their homes. It is known from Christchurch, and L’Aquila experiences that cordons tend to be porous even when authorities patrol them (Shrestha et al, 2021, 2022). In Kathmandu Valley, cordons were not monitored regularly by the authorities, which meant that the restrictions indicated by stickers and light barriers were easily circumvented by the public to gain unauthorized access to the cordons.…”

“…It draws on a broader study that has investigated various aspects of cordons such as its definition, decision-making processes, and operational challenges, among others. To this end, case studies in Christchurch, Wellington, and L’Aquila (Shrestha et al, 2021, 2022) are often referred to while elucidating the factors that influence the feasibility of cordons.…”

“…It widely influenced the social, economic, infrastructure, legal, and institutional fabric of Christchurch in the aftermath of the disaster (Seville et al, 2014). The cordons remain in some parts of the historic L’Aquila city center more than a decade later, which means that access to some areas is still controlled by the authorities to varying degrees (Shrestha et al, 2022). Contreras et al (2022) conducted a sentiment analysis of social media tweets to assess the postdisaster recovery of L’Aquila, and found cordons are associated negatively with recovery.…”