<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "><div><div><div><div>Hi All,</div><div><br></div><div>Some of you may know that there has been a lot of seismic activity around Christchurch, New Zealand in the past year, and this is predicted to continue for some time. </div><div><br></div><div>I'm in the process of purchasing an AUC for my new lab at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, but this has now stalled because of safety concerns, i.e. I've been asked whether it is safe to run an AUC in a 6.0 magnitude aftershock. There are AUC instruments in other areas of the world where earthquakes occur, for instance Japan or California, and I wondered how others have overcome this problem. Are there any particular safety procedures that are implemented? What are the real risks? Could the rotor come through the shielding at 45K if it did move?</div><div><br></div><div>The issue has evolved largely from running preparative ultracentrifuges, which often run at higher speeds. However, it seems that people are happy to run bench top centrifuges at to say 20K without major safety concerns. Perhaps the best argument is simply to state that we run the AUC at lower speeds compared to preparative ultracentrifuges? Or perhaps only do runs overnight? Or have the AUC on the ground floor, where ground movement is lower compared to upper floors?</div><div><br></div><div>Any advice to overcome this issue would be welcomed!</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Cheers</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Ren</span></font></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">********************************************************************</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Dr Renwick Dobson</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Lecturer</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">School of Biological Sciences</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">University of Canterbury</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">Christchurch</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">New Zealand</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">E: renwick.dobson@canterbury.ac.nz</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">T: ++64 (03) 364-2987</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">F: ++64 (03) 364-2590</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">http://www.biol.canterbury.ac.nz/people/dobson.shtml</span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><br></span></font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">********************************************************************</span></font></span></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></body></html>