page_title: 2010 Canterbury earthquake
section_title: Emergency response and relief efforts
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 Canterbury earthquake / Emergency response and relief efforts
caption_attribution_description: A structural inspection notice verifies a shop as safe for use after Christchurch earthquake in Lincoln Road, Addington.
context_page_description: The 2010 Canterbury earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at 4:35 am local time on 4 September, and had a maximum perceived intensity of X on the Mercalli intensity scale. Some damaging aftershocks followed the main event, the strongest of which was a magnitude 6.3 shock known as the Christchurch earthquake that occurred nearly six months later on 22 February 2011. Because this aftershock was centred very close to Christchurch, it was much more destructive and resulted in the deaths of 185 people.
  The earthquake on 4 September caused widespread damage and several power outages, particularly in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city at that time. Two residents were seriously injured, one by a collapsing chimney and a second by flying glass. One person died of a heart attack suffered during the quake, although this could not be directly linked to the earthquake. Mass fatalities were avoided partly due to there being few houses of unreinforced construction, although this was also aided by the quake occurring during the early hours of the morning when most people were off the street.
context_section_description: Christchurch's emergency services managed the early stages of the emergency as the Civil Defence organisation was activated. The St John Ambulance service had sixteen ambulances operational within half an hour of the earthquake and received almost 700 calls within the first 6 hours.
  Police promptly arrested a couple of opportunists who had broken into a liquor store shortly after the quake and attempted to take alcohol. Police emphasised this was only an isolated incident. The alleged offenders subsequently appeared in Court on burglary and theft charges in connection with the looting.
  A state of emergency was declared for Christchurch at 10:16 am on 4 September, and the city's central business district was closed to the general public. A curfew was put in place from 7 pm to 7 am for parts of the central business district. The New Zealand Army was deployed to help the police enforce the closure and curfew.
  Civil Defence also declared a state of emergency for Selwyn District and Waimakariri District. The National Crisis Management Centre in the basement of the Beehive in Wellington was activated, while Selwyn District, Waimakariri and Timaru activated their emergency operation centres.
  A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules plane brought 42 urban search and rescue personnel and three sniffer dogs from the North Island to Christchurch the day of the quake, to help check for people buried in the rubble and determine which buildings are safe to use. There were a large number of police and engineers present in the disaster areas. The New Zealand Army deployed personnel upon the request of the Christchurch mayor. Eighty police officers from Auckland were dispatched to Christchurch to assist with general duties there.
  The United Nations has contacted the New Zealand government and offered its assistance, and is being informed and kept up to date about the situation. The United States military offered to send help from Hawaii; local authorities expressed gratitude for the offer, but turn it down saying they had matters under control. The Queen asked the Prime Minister to send her good wishes to the people affected by and helping recover from the quake.
  Prime Minister John Key, who was raised in Christchurch, visited the scene of the devastation within hours of the earthquake. Christchurch mayor Bob Parker requested that the Prime Minister order the deployment of the New Zealand Army to keep stability and to assist in searches when possible within Christchurch, and the Prime Minister stated that the Army was on standby. New Zealand's Earthquake Commission, which provides government natural disaster insurance, will be assisting by paying out on claims from residential property owners for damage caused by the earthquake. On 7 September, John Key appointed Cabinet Minister, Leader of the House and MP for the Christchurch electorate of Ilam Gerry Brownlee as the Minister for Earthquake Recovery to oversee the response to the earthquake.
  'Welfare centres' were set up with the help of Red Cross, The Salvation Army and St. John Ambulance at Burnside High School, Linwood College and Addington Raceway, where over 244 people slept on the night after the quake. Tankers delivered drinking water to the welfare centres.
  A joint mayoral relief fund has been established by Selwyn District Council, Christchurch City Council and Waimakariri District Council, to which the government has initially given NZ$5 million. The Red Cross and Salvation Army have also appealed for donations to fund their own efforts.
  Under the National-led Government the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act was drafted and passed to assist reconstruction. The Act permits Government ministers to suspend almost any New Zealand law and attracted criticism from New Zealand and international academics specialising in constitutional law, who claim that it lacks constitutional safeguards and has set a dangerous precedent for future natural disasters.
  The response to the earthquake was praised by most citizens with 94% saying that Civil Defence had performed well an
caption: A structural inspection notice verifies a shop as safe for use
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