About Canterbury Seismic
Two decades in New Zealand's earthquake laboratory
We build the instruments and the software that measure real earthquakes, and we have done it through the biggest quakes New Zealand has faced this century.
Born from the research that saw the risk coming
New Zealand has a shaky history, and Canterbury Seismic has been part of the response for over two decades. In the early 1990s, earthquake hazard studies highlighted the significant risk to Christchurch from regional faults, including the Alpine Fault. At the University of Canterbury's Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, Dr Hamish Avery and Peter Coursey developed strong-motion seismographs for a Canterbury seismic network, CanNet, to understand that risk. The work was supported by the Earthquake Commission, Technology NZ, The Mason Trust, the Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury and the University of Canterbury.
In 2003, former university academic Dr John Berrill and Dr Avery formed Canterbury Seismic Instruments to provide those instruments commercially to GeoNet, New Zealand's then new national strong-motion seismic network. From that research base we built the original CUSP monitoring systems, with high-precision satellite positioning and timing, for almost any seismic, structural, geotechnical, geological or environmental situation. Midway through our second decade the CUSP family evolved into today's EQResponder instruments, and we created the Sentinel™ earthquake response and resilience service to give New Zealand a faster way to answer the question every building owner faces after a quake.
Two decades on, Canterbury Seismic is New Zealand's leading supplier of structural and seismic monitoring solutions. Our instruments and systems are installed worldwide, in buildings, dams, bridges, tunnels, landslides, infrastructure and seismic networks, from Asia to Europe and from South America to Scandinavia and Iceland.
An instrument maker, a software company, and a service provider
We are unusual in doing all three. We design and manufacture our own strong-motion instruments, we build the software and cloud analytics that turn their data into answers, and we deliver and support the systems ourselves. That means one accountable team from the sensor on the wall to the decision on the screen, and no reliance on a chain of third parties when it matters.
It also means we can right-size a system to what a site actually needs, rather than sell a single heavily-specified box, and it is why our instruments sit as comfortably in a national research network as they do in a single building.
Proven on real earthquakes
Our instruments were developed and tested in Aotearoa New Zealand's natural earthquake laboratory, and they have measured the country's largest recent earthquakes, including the Canterbury sequence and the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. We supplied the instruments behind GeoNet's national strong-motion network, and our systems run on structures and networks across the world. Independent and New Zealand owned, we are accountable for every result we deliver.
What we stand for
Trusted. A supplier to New Zealand and international science and engineering projects, developed on a strong research base and proven on real events.
Experienced. More than two decades measuring earthquakes, and a company that sustained itself through the devastating Canterbury 2011 sequence.
Independent. New Zealand owned and operated, dedicated to the integrity of your data, with no compromise on the sensitive parts of your project.
Flexible. We tailor the delivery of instruments and services to your budget and your technology, rather than force a one-size system.
Talk to the team that builds it
Whether you need a single instrument, a full array or the Sentinel decision layer, you are dealing with the people who design, build and stand behind it.