page_title: 2011 Christchurch earthquake
section_title: Search and rescue
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Christchurch earthquake / Emergency management / Search and rescue
caption_attribution_description: Japanese urban search and rescue team in Christchurch, 24 February 2011.
context_page_description: A Mw6.2 earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time. The earthquake struck the Canterbury region in New Zealand's South Island and was centred 6.7 kilometres south-east of the centre of Christchurch, New Zealand's second-most populous city. The earthquake caused widespread damage across Christchurch, killing 185 people in the nation's fifth-deadliest disaster.
  Christchurch's central city and eastern suburbs were badly affected, with damage to buildings and infrastructure already weakened by the magnitude 7.1 Canterbury earthquake of 4 September 2010 and its aftershocks. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs, producing around 400,000 tonnes of silt. The earthquake was felt across the South Island and parts of the lower and central North Island. While the initial quake only lasted for approximately 10 seconds, the damage was severe because of the location and shallowness of the earthquake's focus in relation to Christchurch as well as previous quake damage. Subsequent population loss saw the Christchurch main urban area fall behind the Wellington equivalent to decrease from second to third most populous area in New Zealand.
context_section_description: The New Zealand Fire Service coordinated search and rescue, with support from the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Taiwan, China and Singapore, totalling 150 personnel from New Zealand and 429 from overseas. They also responded to fires, serious structural damage reports, and landslides working with structural engineers, seismologists and geologists, as well as construction workers, crane and digger operators and demolition experts.
  NSW Task Force 1, a team of 72 urban search and rescue specialists from New South Wales, Australia was sent to Christchurch on two RAAF C-130 Hercules, arriving 12 hours after the quake. A second team of 70 from Queensland, Queensland Task Force 1, (including three sniffer dogs),was sent the following day on board a RAAF C-17 . A team of 55 Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team members from the Singapore Civil Defence Force were sent. The United States sent Urban Search and Rescue California Task Force 2, a 74-member heavy rescue team consisting of firefighters and paramedics from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, doctors, engineers and 26 tons of pre-packaged rescue equipment.
  Japan sent 70 search-and-rescue personnel including specialists from the coastguard, police and fire fighting service, as well as three sniffer dogs. The team left New Zealand earlier than planned due to the 9.0 earthquake which struck Japan on 11 March 2011. The United Kingdom sent a 53 strong search and rescue team including nine Welsh firefighters who had assisted the rescue effort during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Taiwan sent a 22-member team from the National Fire Agency, along with two tons of specialist search and rescue equipment. China sent a 10-member specialist rescue team.
caption: A Japanese search and rescue team approaches the ruins of the CTV building.
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