Earthquake co-incidences
22.02.2011 (22022011)
New Zealand's second-most populous city
Lyttleton is the South Islands major port for coal and diary product exports (solid energy and fonterra)
The sealift ship HMNZS Canterbury, in Lyttelton harbour at the time of the earthquake
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10705744
Their response force will initially be based around HMNZS Canterbury, a 9000-tonne, multi-role ship which is the only major asset of that kind available to either country.
Christchurch International Airport is located 12 km (7 mi) northwest of the city centre and was largely unaffected by the earthquake. Flight crews from the U.S. Air National Guard were at the airport, making preparations to return to America, when the quake struck and reported to their Air Wing commander that they were safe and unharmed, and that the airport had water and electricity.[76] Twenty-six members of the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing are currently deployed to the airport, in support of "Operation Deep Freeze" (the U.S. Air Force's military support to U.S. research operations in Antarctica).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708163
All the delegates who came to Christchurch for the United States New Zealand Partnership Forum and arrived the day before the earthquake are safe and accounted for, the NZ-US Council says.
The forum meeting began on Monday and was due to run until Tuesday evening, but the quake brought it to an early close.
The US sent a 43-member delegation which included an assistant secretary of state and nine congressmen.
US ambassador David Heubner yesterday used Twitter to get a message through to the delegates, telling them to go to the US Antarctic Centre if they had lost contact with each other.
The New Zealand delegation of 63 included cabinet ministers and senior government officials.
Today US-NZ Council director Stephen Jacobi said all the delegates and staff were safe and accounted for.
"Forum delegates are dismayed and distraught by the loss of life, the injuries and damage in a city that had welcomed them so warmly," Mr Jacobi said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4676031/US-homeland-security-secretary-cancels-visit
United States secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, has had to cancel her visit to New Zealand after the fatal shooting of a US immigration and customs enforcement agent in Mexico.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Ms Napolitano was scheduled to speak at the US-NZ partnership forum in Christchurch next week.
"I have conveyed New Zealand's sympathies and extended an open invitation to Secretary Napolitano to visit New Zealand and expressed our hope that she is able to reschedule her travel soon.
http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2011/02/022211-earthquake.aspx
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New York Guardmembers all safe after New Zealand earthquake
By Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Orrell
National Guard Bureau
An LC-130 Hercules from the 109th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Guard takes off as part of Operation Deep Freeze, Feb. 2, 2011, in Antarctica. The 55th year for Operation Deep Freeze began in October 2010 as an LC-130 Hercules, equipped with retractable ski-wheels, departed to support the U.S. Antarctic Program and the National Science Foundation's research at international sites throughout the Antarctic continent. The 109th AW is the only organization in the world that flies the ski-equipped LC-130s. (Headquarters Air Mobility Command courtesy photo) (Released)
download hi-res photo
WASHINGTON (2/22/11) - All 26 members of the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing, currently deployed in support of Operation Deep Freeze, are safe and unharmed after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the New Zealand capitol of Christchurch today.
The Air Guard wing will remain in Christchurch and are scheduled to begin returning home this week on two of the unit's three LC-130 Hercules cargo planes, which are a ski-equipped version of the C-130 Hercules used in the Arctic and Antarctic, Air Force Col. Timothy LaBarge said today.
“We’re making very good progress to have everybody depart New Zealand per schedule,” he said.
Another LC-130 will remain in New Zealand for planned maintenance.
The Guardmembers were in Christchurch as part of Operation Deep Freeze, which runs from mid-October to mid-February, assisting the National Science Foundation in Antarctica with climate change research.
Christchurch is a maintenance and re-fueling location for Operation Deep Freeze.
The Guard’s mission had completed Feb. 13, and the Guardmembers were already scheduled to return back to New York, regardless of the earthquake, LaBarge said.
At the time of the earthquake, most of the 109th Airlift Wing was either at the airport, which is located about eight miles from the center of Christchurch, or in one of two nearby hotels, he said.
The extent of damage to the hotels is currently unknown, but the airport had water, electricity and food, he said.
LaBarge added that, if called upon, the Guard will provide any assistance to the earthquake victims if possible.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1102/S00961/christchurch-earthquake-nz-defence-force-update-4.htm
Meanwhile personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces who had been in New Zealand preparing for a joint training exercise, are helping man cordons around the city.
116 Singapore Army personnel who were in New Zealand for an exercise.
NZ Defence Force is providing assisitance to Civil Defence and foreign rescue teams.
NSW has 72 pers and twenty tonnes of gear, Queensland 70 pers, 3 dogs and 22 tonnes of gear.
Japan has 63 pers, 3 dogs and 10 tonnes of gear.
Singapore has another 33 pers, 3 dogs and 10 tonnes of equipment.
The US will be sending 80 pers and 40 tonnes of equipment.
Taiwan plans to send 24 pers, 2 dogs and 2 tonnes of gear.
The UK is sending 63 pers and 9 tonnes of equipment.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/02/23/3146434.htm
Adelaide residents in Christchurch when earthquake struck
Local Urologist Dr Rick Catterwell was in Christchurch for a conference when the earthquake hit.
Dr Catterwell was in the Christchurch Convention Centre with colleagues.
After being able to safely exit the building, Dr Catterwell, a trained emergency and trauma specialist, began helping others in the area.
Dr Catterwell and other members of the conference then travelled to the Christchurch hospital and helped local staff for several hours to assist in treating trauma injuries including fractures, head injuries and other emergency cases.
http://www.macarthuradvertiser.com.au/news/national/national/general/australians-caught-up-in-quake/2084027.aspx
Australians caught up in quake
MEX COOPER, MEGAN LEVY
22 Feb, 2011 04:17 PM
Nearly 450 Australians attending a medical conference have been caught up in the Christchurch earthquake.
Doctors and nurses from across the country were at the annual meeting of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand when Christchurch was rocked.
There were 600 delegates registered for the meeting; 430 were Australians of which 160 were Victorians.
Event Planners' human resources director Suzanne Best said the convention centre had been evacuated and all the delegates were believed to be safe.
The convention began yesterday and was due to finish on Thursday.
The centre is located in the heart of the CBD, a few streets from Christchurch Cathedral.
A doctor from St Vincent's Hospital, Marni Basto, was filmed by the ABC in front of Christchurch Cathedral.
She was on hand to help any survivors who might have been in the cathedral, which partly crumbled in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
"We're just waiting for them to clear ... any structural damage that would put us at harm and, once we get that OK, we'll head in and try and help some people," Dr Basto was reported on radio 3AW as saying.
"We're just trying to accumulate any supplies that we can; we've taken some from the stores around and everyone's been very helpful giving medical supplies, everything that they've got so far."
Nathan, a Melbourne surgeon at the convention, said he had seen major destruction around the city following the quake, which was followed five to 10 minutes later by a strong aftershock.
He feared there would be fatalities, including at the cathedral in the main square where the steeple had been destroyed.
"I'm over here at a convention in Christchurch and just in the middle of a session, you know, the speaker was speaking and suddenly the ground shook, and glass was breaking and it was really quite frightening," Nathan told radio 3AW.
"Fortunately nobody from our convention appears to be severely hurt but there's a lot of major destruction here in Christchurch.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708582
Associate Professor Charles Clifton, a seismic engineer who was attending a seminar with other Auckland University experts in a hotel next to the Grand Chancellor when the earthquake struck, was surprised at the extent of damage to it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10708327
And Auckland University Associate Professor Jason Ingham, a management committee member of the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering, said the society advocated raising the requirement to two-thirds of the current standard.
"If you improve your building to only one-third of the building standard, it is still 20 times more likely than a modern building to fall down in an earthquake," he said. "At two-thirds, it's only something like three times as likely to fail."
Ironically, Dr Ingham and other international experts were in Christchurch when the quake struck on Tuesday holding a seminar aimed at getting councils to give more urgency to strengthening old reinforced masonry (brick, stone or concrete) buildings.
Another Auckland University engineer, Dr Quincy Ma, said Tuesday's building collapses did not necessarily show that the structures were not strong enough, because the quake was so violent.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2011/02/fema_official_in_new_zealand_w.html
FEMA official in New Zealand when quake struck
By Ed O'Keefe
Quake damage is spread out across much of Christchurch, New Zealand. (Simon Baker/Reuters)
The White House is deploying a team of disaster-response and urban-search-and-rescue teams to New Zealand in response to the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the country Tuesday.
They will be greeted there by FEMA Deputy Administrator Timothy W. Manning, who is already in the country assisting with response efforts and is uniquely qualified to do so.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time: Manning is a trained geologist, paramedic and firefighter -- the perfect combination for earthquake response. He's there as part of an American delegation visiting for trade and global security talks and to review the country's cleanup efforts following a September 7.0-magnitude quake. Manning spoke Wednesday morning from Christchurch and recalled that he was about to board an airplane when the quake struck. The transcript of our telephone conversation follows, edited for space:
Report: Nine US Congressmen Left Christchurch “Right Before Quake Hit”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5V68S2NvXI
http://chemtrailsnorthnz.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/admiral-thad-allen-in-christchurch-at-time-of-earthquake/
Admiral Thad Allen in Christchurch At Time Of Earthquake
This man was involved in directing the federal response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.National Incident Commander of the Unified Command for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
so...
United States secretary of homeland security cancels visit week before
New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing are in town.
With three LC-130 Hercules cargo planes.
HMNZS Canterbury is on site at the exact epicentre. HMNZS Canterbury, a 9000-tonne, multi-role ship which is the only major asset of that kind available to either country.
United States New Zealand Partnership Forum -
US 43-member delegation which included an assistant secretary of state and nine congressmen and The New Zealand delegation of 63 included cabinet ministers and senior government officials.
Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand Medical Conference
450 Australians attending a medical conference.
600 delegates registered for the meeting; 430 were Australians of which 160 were Victorians.
Including surgeons and trauma specialists.
NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering Conference
Including Auckland University Associate Professor Jason Ingham, a management committee member of the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering, and Associate Professor Charles Clifton, a seismic engineer who was attending a seminar with other Auckland University experts in a hotel next to the Grand Chancellor.
and
FEMA official in New Zealand when quake struck
FEMA Deputy Administrator Timothy W. Manning.
trained geologist, paramedic and firefighter.