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A quake hit cafe in Christchurch - Source: ONE News -
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A leading structural engineer is calling for all unreinforced masonry buildings around the country to be pulled down.
John O'Loughlin told the Royal Commission into the Canterbury quakes that such buildings cannot be made safe enough to survive a major earthquake.
The Royal Commission was hearing evidence about Joe's Garage cafe in central Christchurch which partly collapsed in the February 22 quake.
Chef Gregory Tobin, 25, was killed by falling masonry after he fled the two-storey building.
The building had been extensively strengthened only five years earlier.
O'Loughlin said the building was never going to stand up to the force of the quake.
"No matter how well or poorly the connections were made they were going to fail under those circumstances," O'Loughlin said.
The engineer, who did the work, said all unreinforced masonry buildings need to be checked.
"My personal view is structural walls comprised of bricks should be very seriously looked at as to whether they should be replaced," O'Loughlin said.
Thousands of unreinforced masonry buildings
Across Christchurch almost all unreinforced masonry buildings were damaged in the quakes and there are 3800 of them around the country.
They killed 42 people in February's quake, including Tobin, an ex-British solider working in the cafe as a chef.
"He was last seen by work colleagues running out of the front door onto Hereford Street where he was hit by falling masonry from above," said Mark Zarifeh, counsel assisting the Royal Commission.
But inside the cafe there is almost no damage at all, and bowls are still upright on the shelves.
"The strengthening work which was done was successful in that the building as a total didn't collapse," O'Loughlin said.
How buildings are assessed after a quake was also questioned at the Commission.
One structural engineer, Rhys Smith, said there are not enough experts to cope.
"Having the resources to respond to all the buildings in such a thorough way that gets them strengthened in an improved manner is impossible," he said.
Impossible or not, the Royal Commission has to make sure a building collapse such as Joe's garage is not allowed to happen again.
The 3800 at risk buildings around the country include 1000 in downtown Auckland and almost 700 in Wellington.
Engineers estimate the cost of reinforcing at over $2 billion.
