5 ms·

Wellington is a terrible risk, there's a major fault line running right through the city. But yeah, it's a decent place to live in the meantime.

incompatible 8y ago
Although, it should be mentioned that the weather is also terrible. I'll never forget that wind.
- robocat 8y ago
  And they regularly get cracking good days too. Personally I prefer the Wellington weather to Christchurch (nor-wester, hayfever, overcast, too hot or too cold), or Auckland (I really don't like Auckland's weather). For me the best places in NZ for weather are Nelson, or North of Kaitaia (the winterless North, although rains).
- raffleslodge 8y ago
  Nothing beats Wellington on a good day.
  - lostlogin 8y ago
    The less there is to celebrate the more we celebrate it! Wellington is my favourite city, but I like a good fire so may be biased.
robocat 8y ago
And there are some simple ways to make sure your earthquake risks are lower than other risks in your life. 1. Don't work in old buildings - especially hipster brick ones. (Maybe if they have added steel structure that looks ridiculously oversized: see Dux Central, what was Twisted Hop in Christchurch). 2. Avoid living on hills with unstable geology. 3. Avoid living in old apartments that are not up to 100% earthquake code. Liquifaction really isn't as big an issue as you might think. Anecdote: my parents are on top of the 7.2 Darfield quake, my sister's is very close to the 7.8 Kaikoura epicentre, and I live in Christchurch.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  Unfortunately you've described the majority of Wellington's buildings. Wellington is old timber houses on hills, or poorly built apartments on reclaimed land in the harbour, most of which are not up to earthquake code, and aren't required to be for another decade.
  - lostlogin 8y ago
    > Wellington is old timber houses on hills These seem to do ok and have been tested on some decent shakes, unlike some of the new code-compliment buildings. Chimneys are a notable exception.
    - toomanybeersies 8y ago
      The risk with the housing stock on Wellington's hills isn't that they'll fall over, timber houses on piles are quite safe in earthquakes as they are very flexible. The main risk is landslides.

incompatible 8y ago

Although, it should be mentioned that the weather is also terrible. I'll never forget that wind.

robocat 8y ago
And they regularly get cracking good days too. Personally I prefer the Wellington weather to Christchurch (nor-wester, hayfever, overcast, too hot or too cold), or Auckland (I really don't like Auckland's weather). For me the best places in NZ for weather are Nelson, or North of Kaitaia (the winterless North, although rains).
raffleslodge 8y ago
Nothing beats Wellington on a good day.
- lostlogin 8y ago
  The less there is to celebrate the more we celebrate it! Wellington is my favourite city, but I like a good fire so may be biased.

robocat 8y ago

And there are some simple ways to make sure your earthquake risks are lower than other risks in your life. 1. Don't work in old buildings - especially hipster brick ones. (Maybe if they have added steel structure that looks ridiculously oversized: see Dux Central, what was Twisted Hop in Christchurch). 2. Avoid living on hills with unstable geology. 3. Avoid living in old apartments that are not up to 100% earthquake code. Liquifaction really isn't as big an issue as you might think. Anecdote: my parents are on top of the 7.2 Darfield quake, my sister's is very close to the 7.8 Kaikoura epicentre, and I live in Christchurch.

toomanybeersies 8y ago
Unfortunately you've described the majority of Wellington's buildings. Wellington is old timber houses on hills, or poorly built apartments on reclaimed land in the harbour, most of which are not up to earthquake code, and aren't required to be for another decade.
- lostlogin 8y ago
  > Wellington is old timber houses on hills These seem to do ok and have been tested on some decent shakes, unlike some of the new code-compliment buildings. Chimneys are a notable exception.
  - toomanybeersies 8y ago
    The risk with the housing stock on Wellington's hills isn't that they'll fall over, timber houses on piles are quite safe in earthquakes as they are very flexible. The main risk is landslides.