New Zealand Earthquake: Search, Rescue, and Repair

Alan Taylor
February 25, 2011
36 Photos
In Focus

Four days after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Christchurch, New Zealand, rescue crews from seven nations are on the ground, still hopeful they may find survivors. Volunteers and government personnel have begun the difficult task of cleaning and rebuilding, and crews are working to restore desperately needed power and water systems. The death toll has climbed to 113, and more than 225 people are still listed as missing. Gathered here are images of the destruction and of New Zealanders coping with the aftermath of this earthquake - the nation's worst natural disaster in nearly a century.

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A rescue worker from Queensland in Australia walks past the rubble of the CTV building in Christchurch February 24, 2011 #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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A sign referring to a previous earthquake stands in front of the destroyed Oxford Terrace Baptist church in Christchurch February 24, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Japanese rescue workers walk past the rubble of the CTV building in Christchurch February 24, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Members of Canterbury University volunteer army clean up liquefaction mud on February 24, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

Martin Hunter/Getty Images

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The 26-story Grand Chancellor Hotel which, according to local authorities, is expected to collapse, sags on one side in Christchurch February 24, 2011. Engineers plan to temporarily prop up the structure while determining if it is salvageable. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Rescue workers are seen at the collapsed CTV building that housed the King's Education School, where missing Japanese people were believed to be trapped, following Tuesday's earthquake in the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch February 23, 2011. #

REUTERS/Kyodo

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Emergency services remove a body from the destroyed CTV building in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, February 24, 2011, after the city was hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake Tuesday. #

AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Sarah Ivey

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A rail line buckled by the shifting earth is pictured in Christchurch on February 23, 2011, a day after a deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the city. #

Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

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A rock lies on top of of a boat outside a house in the Redcliffs suburb of Christchurch on February 23, 2011, a day after a deadly earthquake rocked the city. #

Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

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A massive hole was punched through this house by a giant boulder which crashed through the home during Tuesday's earthquake, near Lyttelton, on the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, February 24, 2011. #

AP Photo/Mark Baker

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Paul Stokes proudly shows his shirt with the magnitude of Christchurch's September 2010 earthquake written on it as he works to clear his latest earthquake damaged suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand Friday, February 25, 2011. #

AP Photo/Mark Baker

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A resident walks through the center of Lyttelton as she looks at the damage from Tuesday's earthquake, near Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, February 24, 2011. #

AP Photo/Mark Baker

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Recovery operation workers are lowered by a crane onto the top of the Christchurch Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand , Friday, February 25, 2011 in Christchurch. #

AP Photo/Rob Griffith

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The inside of David's Bookstore on Cashel Street on February 25, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

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A sign outside a house in New Brighton offering free food to the local community on February 25, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

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Local residents enjoy a free dinner cooked by a household in their backyard in the suburb of New Brighton on February 25, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

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Passers-by pause to look at holes in the ground caused by Tuesday's earthquake in Christchurch February 24, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Tristan Webb stands in a large hole along River Road, Avonside on February 25, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

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Rescue workers search for signs of life in the rubble of CTV building in Christchurch February 24, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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A rescue worker guides survivor Ann Bodkin, center, out of the destroyed Pyne Gould Guinness building in Christchurch, New Zealand , Wednesday, February 23, 2011, after the city was hit by a 6.3 earthquake on Tuesday, Feb 22. #

AP Photo/Rob Griffith

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A car remains stuck in sand that covered a road following Tuesday's earthquake in the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch February 23, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Heavy machinery demolishes an earthquake-damaged church in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, February 24, 2011. #

AP Photo/Mark Baker

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A sign painted on the road by emergency workers indicates danger ahead in a beach-side suburb of Christchurch February 25, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Jacob Baymon gives free apples out to residents on Ferry Road on February 25, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

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Shelves and stock, damaged by Tuesday's earthquake, lie jumbled on the floor in a distribution center in Christchurch February 25, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Bottles of nail polish lie on the floor of a shop following Tuesday's earthquake in Christchurch on February 23, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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A car, damaged by Tuesday's earthquake, remains under a collapsed rock wall in Christchurch February 25, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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A police dog searches in the rubble with his handler in Christchurch on Thursday, February 24, 2011. #

AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Mark Mitchell

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Houses are damaged from falling rock in the Christchurch, New Zealand, suburb of Redcliffs, Thursday, February 24, 2011. #

AP Photo/NZPA, Dave Wethey

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A handmade sign found in an earthquake damaged suburb asks for motorists to drive slowly in Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday, February 25, 2011. #

AP Photo/Mark Baker

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Newlyweds Emma Howard and Chris Greenslade cheer for a group photo after their wedding, Friday, February 25, 2011, just days after she was pulled from the rubble of the earthquake devastated Pyne Gould Corporation in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

AP Photo/Mark Baker

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Part of an interior hallway, including a restroom door is visible in a still-standing section of structure of the CTV building on February 25, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

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Resident of the beach-side suburb of New Brighton, Julian Sanderson, searches for personal items through the remains of his house, destroyed by Tuesday's earthquake, in Christchurch on February 25, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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A photograph lies in the remains of a house, which was destroyed by Tuesday's earthquake, in Christchurch on February 25, 2011. #

REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

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Murray and Kelly James look at their destroyed house in central Christchurch, New Zealand, Wednesday, February 23, 2011. #

AP Photo/Mark Baker

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A view of the Port Town of Lyttelton on February 24, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. #

Martin Hunter/Getty Images

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