Eleven more earthquake briefings will be held across the city in the coming weeks.

Around 650 Wellingtonians have already attended one of the eight earthquake briefings hosted by GNS Science and Wellington City Council over the past month.

Mayor Celia Wade-Brown says she is pleased that so many people have taken the time to attend a briefing session. "The briefings highlight the work the Council and other organisations have done to improve our city’s resilience. They also help people know what they can do practically in their communities and in their homes to make sure they are ready to get through an earthquake, and help their neighbours.

"This is critical information for every city resident and I encourage Wellingtonians to come along to a session," she says.

Russ Van Dissen, geologist at GNS Science and leader of the ‘It’s Our Fault’ project, says lots of study work has been completed on earthquake fault lines throughout the Wellington region and the hazards they pose over many years. "It's exciting and rewarding to share our important findings with the people of Wellington, especially in light of the issues raised by the events in Canterbury."

Eighty three percent of people who attended one of the initial briefings said they found the session useful or very useful.

Wellington resident Bryan Carver, who came along to a briefing at Island Bay last week, said: "it was an extremely well prepared and detailed meeting which was excellent in every degree." He said the session was helpful in terms of providing information to people about how they could be prepared should an earthquake occur. "There were some really good ideas from the audience about how communities could be better prepared, like suggestions around people using rainwater tanks to collect water."

Councillor Iona Pannett, the Council’s Built Environment Portfolio Leader, says the briefings highlight the work the Council has been doing to improve the safety of buildings and infrastructure in the city. "We have now assessed over 70 percent of the buildings in Wellington that need to be assessed under our earthquake-prone buildings policy. By 2015 all buildings that require assessment will have been checked."

All high priority buildings that require strengthening will either be strengthened or demolished by 2025.

Future earthquake briefing sessions will take place at:

- Karori - 3pm, Sunday 30 September, Allen Ward Hall, Victoria University Campus, Donald Street

- Tawa - 7.30pm, Wednesday 3 October, Tawa Community Centre, 5 Cambridge Street

- Kilbirnie - 3pm, Sunday 14 October, Matairangi Room, ASB Sports Centre, 72 Kemp Street

- Ohariu/ Makara - Tuesday 16 October, 7.30pm, Makara Community Hall, 376 Makara Road

- City - 7.30pm, Thursday 18 October, Michael Fowler Centre, Wakefield Street

- Hataitai - 7.30pm, Tuesday 23 October, Sea Cadets Hall, Cog Centre, 393 Evans Bay Parade

- Oriental Bay - 7.30pm, Thursday 25 October, Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, 103 Oriental Parade

- Miramar - 7.30pm, Tuesday 30 October, Miramar Community Centre, 27 Chelsea Street

- Aro Valley - 7.30pm, Thursday 1 November, Aro Valley Community Centre, 48 Aro Street

- Seatoun - 7.30pm, Wednesday 7 November, Seatoun School, 59 Burnham Street

To register to attend a free briefing visit Wellington.govt.nz/earthquake or phone 499 4444.

Information on how to prepare for an emergency - including advice for businesses and on creating household emergency plans - is available online at getthru.govt.nz, under 'how to get ready.' Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) staff are attending each briefing session and able to meet with communities to help improve preparedness and resilience through locally driven initiatives.