This was the first time engineers played a significant part in search and rescue operations. The lessons learned from this event will help focus the development of urban search and rescue, and help define the critical roles of engineers supporting emergency rescue operations. Building collapses are not uncommon, neither in the United States nor worldwide. The Murrah building 12 days after the explosion.
Buildings collapse for a variety of reasons.
Natural phenomena such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, mudslides, avalanches, and storms are the usual cause for multibuilding collapses. Search and rescue operations in partially collapsed buildings pose danger to both victims and rescuers because of the possible instability of the remaining building and the rubble's uncertain stability and strength. The goal of the rescue mission is to retrieve trapped victims while maintaining the safety of rescue workers. A decade ago, engineers were not part of the organized building collapse response community, but today they are. During the emergency response effort, most people attempting to rescue victims from the collapsed concrete buildings were untrained, and this situation resulted in the death of many would-be rescuers.