Scary weird little guy

The earthquake in Christchurch has got me thinking about how Dunedin would fare if the same were to happen here. Perhaps pursuing this thought isn't terribly healthy but maybe it is my way of empathising with my fellow New Zealanders.
Dunedin has many old, beautiful buildings that act as a reminder of it's past affluence & it's history. These days many of these buildings are empty. A glut of unloved & disused architecture that deserves so much better. If the buildings were undesirable before the earthquake now due to their construction is there any hope of their preservation?