A research update on the demography and injury burden of victims of New Zealand earthquakes between 2010 and 2014
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Date
2020-06-01
DOI
Open Access Location
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Publisher
Massey University Press
Rights
CC BY-NC 3.0
Abstract
This study compared the populations exposed to different shaking intensities of recent New Zealand earthquakes with injury burden, demography, and scene of injury. The population exposed to each earthquake was approximated by overlaying estimates of ground shaking with a model of population distribution for day and night populations. Injury data from all earthquakes and their aftershock periods were analysed for patient age and sex, location, scene of injury, and date of injury. An association was found between population exposed to shaking intensity and injury burden. The total injury burdens for each earthquake were: 2,815 (Darfield, 2010); 9,048 (Christchurch, February 2011); 2,057 (Christchurch, June 2011); 1,385 (Christchurch, December 2011),;106 (Cook Strait, 2013); 166 (Grassmere, 2013); and 49 (Eketahuna, 2014). All earthquakes injured approximately twice as many females as males. Most people who were injured were in the age range of 40-59 years. Two-thirds of injuries occurred at home, followed by 14% in commercial locations and 6.5% on roads and streets. This pattern was repeated within the data for each sex. The results suggest that the total injury burden was positively associated with both the intensity of shaking and size and density of the exposed population. The localities where most injuries occurred suggest that where people were at the time of shaking influenced their risk of injury. Potential explanations for the sex disparity in number of injuries are discussed.
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(c) 2020 The Author/s
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Citation
Basharati S, Ardagh M, Deely J, Horspool N, Johnston D, Feldmann-Jensen S, Dierckx A, Than M. (2020). A research update on the demography and injury burden of victims of New Zealand earthquakes between 2010 and 2014. Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies. 24. 1. (pp. 65-73).