
Halting the jolts: How Te Papa resists earthquakes
How did Te Papa survive the Kaikoura earthquake nearly unscathed?
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art, shows how to use museum quake wax to protect your taonga at home.
How did Te Papa survive the Kaikoura earthquake nearly unscathed?
Restless whenua, strong people. Rūaumoko, god of earthquakes and volcanoes, lays his challenge – his restless rumblings present us with taonga as well as hazards. A country where colliding and subducting plates cause quakes, volcanoes, tsunami, and landslides.
Around 20,000 shakes are measured every year in Aotearoa New Zealand – about 55 a day – our whenua (land) never stops shaking. Plates collide. Pressure builds. The land ruptures. How do we cope with living on such shaky ground?