I am in Christchurch participating in services marking the one-year anniversary of the tragic February 22, 2011 earthquake. I have been joined by several of my American colleagues including Al Dwyer from USAID, who headed the large US disaster response team that quickly airlifted into Christchurch to assist with search and rescue operations. I asked Al to return to New Zealand to lead our delegation with me because of the critical role he played in the days immediately following the quake.

Yesterday I attended the unveiling of the Tomb of the Unknowns. This morning Al and I participated in a commemoration service at Latimer Square, on the spot where the American and other working USAR teams camped last February. I then spoke at the opening of a commemorative garden in Christchurch’s beautiful Botanic Gardens, one of my favorite places in the city. And now, as I record this introduction, Al and I are walking to Hagley Park for the main civic service of remembrance.

I am carrying with me a personal message to the people of Canterbury from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Secretary was beguiled by Christchurch when she visited the city in November 2010. She thoroughly enjoyed the warmth of Cantabrians, the beauty of the environs, the vibrant Q&A session at Town Hall, and her spontaneous jog around the edge of the CBD and through Hagley Park.

On February 22, 2011, she followed the tragic events in Christchurch closely, solicited frequent updates from the Embassy, and later held a live digital video conference with us to discuss the quake and to thank our friends at MFAT, VCO, and the New Zealand Police who were instrumental in helping evacuate the US-NZ Partnership Forum. As she said in her public statement at the time, “I saw firsthand the beauty of Christchurch, and it was heartbreaking to see the pictures of destruction.”

Below, as text and video, are the regards that the Secretary has asked me to convey at the civic service today.

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HRC: Hello everyone.

I know it has been a year since that terrible earthquake struck New Zealand, but the memories are still fresh.

I had just visited Christchurch a few months earlier and was shocked to learn and then see the scope of the damage. So many lives lost, so many homes and businesses destroyed.

Together, with the leadership of Ambassador Huebner and our embassy staff on the ground we began to work out how the United States could help. After all, that is what friends are for.

In the aftermath of the earthquake the United States, along with many other countries, sent an Urban Search and Rescue team to provide assistance. When their mission ended, the US team gave their advanced rescue equipment to their Kiwi partners so the work could continue.

When earthquakes struck Japan just weeks later, New Zealand quickly deployed its own teams along with that same equipment. In America we call that ‘paying it forward’. And it was international relations at its very best.

Even those of us who were far away on that terrible day share in your grief, and we know it’s been a struggle, but through that struggle we’ve seen the strength and perseverance of the people of Christchurch.

So Christchurch, yes, we grieve with you, and we think about you all the time. But mostly, as we celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations with New Zealand, please know we will continue to support you. And we look forward to a long future of cooperation as we work together to both solve our common problems and to seize the opportunities of the 21st century. Thank you.

*   *   *

Kia kaha Canterbury. Kati ake i konei. Ma te atua koutou e manaaki.

Craig Weaver was not in Christchurch when the quake hit, but his focus was riveted on Canterbury nonetheless. Craig is the Pacific Northwest Coordinator for the US Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards Program, and studying and learning from earthquakes is his profession. He has spent the last few weeks in New Zealand, including what he describes as “unbelievable and overwhelming” time in Christchurch, working with Kiwi colleagues.

Their joint goal is to determine how the two countries can best share knowledge about earthquakes, and to develop, refine, and share best practices for preparing for and responding to seismic events. The US Government is supporting several such collaborative efforts. Both of our countries have high-hazard quake areas as well as regions where quakes are possible but populations are under-prepared. There is still a lot to learn, and Craig has been focused on what events in Christchurch have to teach.

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CW: Earthquakes are often tragic events that leave deep scars on the affected populations. I know from good friends and colleagues just how terribly the Christchurch area has suffered from the continuing seismic sequence.

I remember February 22nd very clearly in part because we had Kiwi researchers from GNS Science with us then at a county fair in Spokane, Washington, conducting research on quake risks and perceptions.

For scientists and disaster preparation professionals, quakes can be learning experiences that help save many lives in the future. We cannot bring back those lost, but we can adapt planning, construction, and other factors to protect people more effectively in the future.

So, what does the Canterbury earthquake sequence tell cities here in New Zealand, in the United States, and elsewhere?

The tragic deaths, damage, and disruption from the earthquakes, liquefaction, and rock falls caught the Canterbury region by surprise, as the area has been one of the lower earthquake hazard zones in the country. Plus, the resulting post-earthquake recovery facing New Zealand is daunting. For many cities, including in the United States, the Christchurch experience is both a warning and a sobering call to prepare to lessen such consequences.

In particular, the Christchurch earthquakes struck areas of construction similar to that found in many other cities. The loss of life, concentrated in three collapsed structures, dominated the post-earthquake news coverage, and few people outside the region appreciated the challenges and obstacles to long-term recovery. It is these challenges and obstacles that the United States Geological Survey (USGS), GNS Science of New Zealand, and Washington Emergency Management Division (EMD) hope to bring to the attention of other cities, including in America.

What are those lessons and why are they needed? In much of the United States, for example, most people perceive that earthquake risks are lower than more frequent perils such as floods, tornados, or winter storms. Christchurch shows the danger of thinking that lower probability events won’t happen. There is also a tendency in areas outside of the high earthquake hazard zones for elected officials and the population to overlook the consequences of somewhat “ordinary” earthquakes in the magnitude 6 range. In many ways, the events of February 22nd provide a critical teaching opportunity for other cities in lower earthquake hazard zones.

Under the banner of “low risk does not mean no risk,” the USGS, GNS, and EMD have been exploring ways to bring the lessons of Christchurch to cities in my region. All three agencies are well-acquainted, having partnered on tsunami and seismic hazard issues since 2001.

Three areas stand out as particularly fruitful for collaboration in an effort to bring lessons learned from Canterbury to eastern Washington and elsewhere:

First, What earthquake information tools worked?

Seismologists in New Zealand provided a number of information tools to support the emergency management and contingency planning community during the Canterbury earthquakes. The USGS develops and offers a wide-range of information tools – everything from real-time assessments of actual shaking and estimated damage as it is occurring to estimates of future ground shaking — but to date there have been no large urban earthquakes in the United States that would cause agencies to use these capabilities. Christchurch offers a rare and relevant laboratory for USGS scientists to understand the effectiveness of information tools, so that others can use them more effectively.

Second, What mitigation worked?

Beginning in the mid-1990′s, utilities and others instituted a seismic strengthening program for portions of the infrastructure in the region. What was the cost of this strengthening and how did it improve seismic performance, reduce loss of life and damage to the built environment, lower economic losses, and speed recovery? Answers to these questions from Christchurch would help local officials in other cities to consider how to include seismic-strengthening of existing infrastructure in cost-benefit analyses.

Third, what scientific studies, engineering analysis, or community decisions not done before the earthquakes would have reduced overall losses?

What were the gaps in long-term and short-term communication of earthquake risk? Could better integration of geological and seismological understanding with community planning and economic analysis have led to lower social and economic disruptions and costs? The ability to explore the wealth of data available from the Christchurch area is the type of information that other cities in New Zealand and elsewhere need to expand their abilities to ensure more resilient futures.

The three agencies are discussing targeting four cities in eastern Washington to develop an approach of bringing lessons from Christchurch to areas of similar hazard levels in New Zealand, the US, and elsewhere. The four test cities — Spokane, Walla Walla, Yakima, and the Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland) — have a combined population of over a million people.

Earthquake issues vary in those cities, with Walla Walla and Yakima having higher seismic hazards, but earthquake swarms in both Spokane and Tri-Cities have caused significant anxiety among residents.

An October 25, 2011 workshop on earthquake hazards in the Tri-Cities area, sponsored by the USGS, EMD, and GNS, drew about 90 local first responders, engineers, and citizens. Information presented by all three agencies generated enthusiastic discussion during the workshop and all were impressed with how easily the initial lessons from Christchurch — emergency response and initial problems of recovery such as debris removal — resonated with the audience.

There is still a lot to learn, both from the Canterbury earthquakes and from quakes in the Pacific Northwest and California. I look forward to continuing to be part of the vibrant web of collaborations that that link the seismic research and disaster preparedness communities in our two countries. By working together in the wake of such tragic events, we can save many lives in the future.

*   *   *

Craig, thank you for sharing a few notes about your work in the months leading up to and then following February 22nd.

Tim Manning was not supposed to be in Christchurch that day. He was a last-minute addition to the delegation that flew from Washington for the US-NZ Partnership Forum. My Embassy colleagues and I, as well as many others, benefited greatly from the twist of fate that brought him to us precisely when we needed someone exactly like him.

Tim is Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He is the senior official responsible for preparing the US to prevent, respond to, and recover from natural disasters. He is also a former firefighter, emergency medical technician, rescue mountaineer, and hazardous materials specialist with two decades of frontline emergency response experience. He was uniquely positioned to assist in Christchurch.

At the airport to return home when the quake struck, he volunteered to accompany local police back into the city to search for survivors trapped in the rubble, which he did during the critical first 36 hours. Tim brings the perspective of a first responder to our remembrance of February 22nd, and I am grateful that he agreed to share some of his story and thoughts with us today. I’ll let his riveting words speak for themselves, with only a few photos of Tim taken later that week.

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TM: A year has gone by fast, and I think about the people I met in the aftermath of the Christchurch Earthquake frequently.

I remember the selflessness of the people that survived the quake, only to put their lives at risk to help others.

I think of the people I met volunteering in the shelters and the tireless dedication of all of the police and firefighters, city workers, and the US Embassy team I had the good fortune to find late that first night, and got to live and work with for a while.

And I think of those who were lost and the families whose lives were changed forever. There were many tragic events that day, and as many acts of heroism.

I wasn’t supposed to be in Christchurch actually. After a long week of meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels, I was looking forward to going home to my family. Then I got a call from the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for International Affairs, asking if I could change my plans and meet her in Auckland for a series of meetings in New Zealand and Australia. The first stop was to be the US-NZ Partnership Forum in Christchurch.

We arrived with enough time to explore a bit prior to the official events, and we covered quite a bit of ground, visiting the Cathedral, the botanical gardens, a street festival near the college, and many of the streets throughout the area surrounding our hotel.

The morning of the 22^nd of February dawned dark, cloudy, and chilly. The meetings came to a successful conclusion. I decided to just head to the airport early, get checked in, and grab a bite to eat. The conversation in the cab centered exclusively on how the city was rebuilding from the September quake, and I heard again the sense of strength and resiliency. That September quake had been a miracle:  a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that didn’t claim a single life.

At the airport I went to the airline desks, only to find it was still an hour before the flight would open. The couple behind me said hello.

As we talked for a moment, a very low audible rumble began. The shaking started soon after … building and getting louder as ceiling tiles fell, pipes burst, and glass walls shattered.

The crowd reaction ranged from inaction to calm dropping and covering, to yelling and running for the doors.  The majority took the best cover they could and waited until the shaking stopped. The fire alarm began immediately. The airport began rapidly emptying out onto the side walk and parking lots.

The magnitude of the damage was not obvious yet. As we filed out of the airport, I knew that if the phone system was still working, it likely wouldn’t be for long, so I quickly called my wife to let know what happened and that I was OK, when the first large aftershock struck (an event recorded on her voice mail, much to her dismay).

The crowd moved quickly away from the swaying control tower, further from the airport building. As we checked on each other to make sure everyone was OK, the first reports from downtown started coming in. Widespread devastation, and unlike the September quake, this one struck at lunch on a workday with a central business district full of people.

The two police officers that had evacuated people from the danger of falling debris were now doing the best they could to find out what was going on and what needed doing. The radio system was swamped however, and they couldn’t get through, so they did what they knew needed doing and started pulling folks together.

They stood on the hood of an airport service truck and yelled into the crowd: “There was massive damage in the city center, and reports of many injured people. Any doctors or nurses in the crowd that are willing to go downtown and help please come forward.”

In addition to a group of construction workers that had just come down from the scaffold,  a doctor, two nurses, and a rookie New Zealand police officer in civilian clothes, just out of training and on her way to her first posting on the North Island, came forward.

One of the officers, who I to this day only know as Pedro, commandeered a parking shuttle bus and its driver and loaded us all in while his partner stayed behind to care for the people at the airport.

Immediately we hit gridlocked traffic. Roads were buckled all over town, bridges were down or suspect in places, and there was widespread liquefaction causing flooding and cutting off access. And in all of this there was midday traffic and people trying to get home, find loved ones, or provide help.

On an airport shuttle bus and lacking lights and sirens, we did the best we could, with Pedro running down the middle of the street banging on the trunks of cars yelling for them to move aside. Move they did, and before long we had reached the CBD, Pedro running almost the whole way.

The scene was devastating, rescue efforts were underway at the worst of the collapses, and we dropped our doctor and a nurse at the first stop. Someone was trapped and they were likely going to need to amputate a limb to rescue him.

The rest of us moved on. We were, at this point, about an hour after the main quake struck, and most people had evacuated downtown on foot, gathering in Latimer Square and Hagley Park.

We were to go block by block, a hasty foot search looking for anyone left behind or trapped in buildings or cars.

We came to the Hotel Grand Chancellor that was leaning what looked like 20 degrees over. There were people trapped in the building, and there were some responders on the street trying to communicate up to there just as another large aftershock hit. The façades that hadn’t yet crumbled now came down around us, and the hotel shook visibly. The smell of gas permeated the air, and we moved rubble from the center of the streets as we searched to allow easier access for emergency vehicles that would eventually follow.

We continued that way for some time until we found ourselves at a command post across from the burning CTV building. Helicopters dropped water to suppress the fire, and firefighters worked tirelessly from the ground to suppress the fire and search for survivors. As we worked through the streets, our friend the bus driver committed to stay with us as long as he could.

The rescue efforts at the Pyne Gould building were an example of just how effective a community working together can be. When we got there, there were a number of police, at least one ladder truck from the fire department, an ambulance, and countless volunteers. As the government emergency services were stretched thin working across the affected area, here was a combination of construction workers, firefighters, and police working together to search the collapsed building and rescue as many as they could as quickly as they could. We moved rubble and set up ladders to access the building.

I knew as we picked our way across the debris that this scene would be playing itself out thousands of times all across the area.

Coordinating a large disaster like this is a difficult and complicated thing, especially in the first few hours, and there are never enough people to help do it. I didn’t know what exactly they needed, but I figured that if I could make it to the city’s emergency operation center, I might be able to pitch in some help there as well.

I ran into another New Zealand Police Officer, Blue Young, whom I had met earlier in the week at the Forum. Blue had been assigned to US officials at the Forum and was just wrapping up that assignment when the earthquake struck.

Blue was able to tell me that my colleagues from the US Embassy had been thankfully able to account for the entire American delegation, despite the delegates being scattered widely across the city for lunch. He told me that my colleagues, through impressive bravery and creativity, had been able to evacuate most of the Americans and many of the Kiwi delegates to a triage and command center that the Embassy had immediately established at the US Antarctic Program Offices near the airport.

We also discussed how the overall response was going, and he offered to help me make my way to the Christchurch Art Gallery where the civil defence authorities had set up their emergency operations center.

It was getting late by the time we made our way to that command center. I have been in many emergency operations centers (EOCs) in many disasters. They range from frantic and rushed to calm and competent, and what I found at the Art Gallery was as impressive as any I have worked in.

Despite the pressures the city faced, and the uncertain safety of the families of many of the people there, the command center was full of quiet and steady calm. It was obvious they knew their responsibilities and what was expected of them. I found the Mayor and offered my condolences and whatever assistance I could provide.

I was fortunate and honored to be able to help in many ways over the coming days.

As a US Government official, my roll in any other country is to support our Ambassador there, and thus I was glad to be able to connect with our Embassy team in the pre-dawn hours of the next day.

Like the ordinary people who stepped forward to help and the emergency responders with whom I worked on the streets, my USG colleagues showed a calm dedication to their responsibilities. I was honored to join them, and my job then became to provide whatever help the Ambassador needed, to either the people of Christchurch or any US citizens who might be trapped, stranded, or hurt.

I found myself back at the Antarctic Center again that night, in the company of a team who had been there with us the night before under very different circumstances (for a gala dinner for the Forum delegates). What a difference 36 hours can make. 

The majority of the US delegation had been evacuated by LC-130 as quickly as possible, and Ambassador Huebner had deployed a crisis team to stay and support the response effort. This group was to coordinate and facilitate assistance to the people of New Zealand on behalf of the people of the United States, as well as to try to account for and assist all American citizens affected by the earthquake.

We lived for the following days in the offices of the US Antarctic Program, sleeping a few hours each night under desks to take shelter from the very frequent aftershocks, and spending the remainder of the night and day working in shifts at the emergency operations center and visiting shelters and hospitals.

It was an ad hoc team made up of economic, agricultural, security, management, consular, and public affairs personnel that happened to be in Christchurch for the Forum, but it was as cohesive and effective as any team I’ve had the chance to work with. None of them would look for it or admit it, but each deserves special recognition … Dana Deree, Michele Peterson, Janine Burns, Mary-Lou Forrest, Josh Greene, Laura Scandurra, Mike Layne, and of course, Blue Young.

We coordinated with the Canterbury Red Cross, to which the Ambassador had immediately dispensed the Embassy’s entire US$ 100,000 emergency response fund. Also in rapid order we were able to get one of our US National Response System Urban Search and Rescue teams (from Los Angeles) in the air to Christchurch, along with a USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (from Virgina).

Upon the arrival of those teams, our Embassy team would hand over the search, rescue, and emergency services liaison duties to them. I think it was almost 3:00 a.m. when Dana Deree and I walked to the airport to meet them. Ambassador Huebner was already at the airport, having returned from Wellington by LC-130.

Obviously at such a late hour the airport is not staffed fully, and it took a while to work our way to where the team would come in. As we did, we approached two police officers for help. And here were Pedro and his partner, still on duty.

They had been able to get home briefly, but had been largely working non stop. Pedro was able to fill in what happened after I moved on to the command center and the Pyne Gould building. They had worked in the rain and cold through the night and rescued some 30 people. A team of volunteers, by-standers, and emergency officials working together changed the almost-certain tragic outcome for many people that night.

In the moments after the quake and over the following days, I saw countless examples of the spirit of community resilience that exemplifies what we in emergency management strive for.

In the efforts of the student army, volunteers that traveled to Christchurch to help clean up and get people and the community back on their feet, to the random people that came by command posts with food to cook and hand out, to the ever present long line of volunteers looking for a way to help, the people of Christchurch and the visitors who happened to be there responded in a way that should serve as an example to all.

I count myself lucky to have seen it.

– Tim Manning

*   *   *

Tim, thank you for your extraordinary service in Christchurch that week. You played a crucial role in the USG’s rapid response, provided a seasoned focus for our Embassy team on the ground, and made a real difference in many people’s lives. I continue to hear praise from Cantabrian friends about your work on the streets during the critical first three days.

Tomorrow, we will hear from Craig Weaver, Pacific Northwest Coordinator for the US Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards Program.

Former Congressman Jim Kolbe represented the Tucson, Arizona area in the US House of Representatives for 22 years, from 1985-2007. Along with Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher of California, he was a founding co-chair of the Friends of New Zealand Congressional Caucus. He is currently a fellow at the German Marshall Fund and serves on the US Trade Representative’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

Congressman Kolbe was in Christchurch on February 22, 2011 as part of the American delegation at the US-New Zealand Partnership Forum. At 12:51 pm that day he was thrown out of his chair at lunch at Canterbury University, and ended up leaving the city on foot. The Congressman looks back on that day, one year later.

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JK: Some events trigger a life time of memories, but rarely does this happen when the event only takes a few seconds. Such was the case, however, with the earthquake in Christchurch on February 22, 2011.

Most natural disasters either come with some warning or the ability to take steps to avoid or mitigate the danger. But an earthquake is instantaneous, and one feels completely helpless in its midst.

Midday February 22nd found me at the Canterbury University Faculty Club, enjoying a plate of salmon with nearly a dozen other members of the United States-New Zealand Partnership Forum, which was completing its final day of meetings in Christchurch.

Our group included former Prime Minister Jim Bolger. When the shockwave hit us, we all dove under the table until the earth stopped shaking. Then we quickly moved outdoors with, I might add, our plate of salmon in hand. The young woman who was serving us wisely advised that we couldn’t be sure after this event when we might get another meal.

It quickly became apparent that there would be no transportation to reunite us with our larger group, so we began the long trek to the center of Christchurch, a distance of about four miles. As we got to the city center, it became apparent that this quake was far more damaging than the one the previous September, even though it registered less on the Richter scale.

I soon learned that the Richter scale is only one measurement of the intensity of a quake, and that its closeness to the surface and consequent “acceleration rate” has just as much impact. An informal briefing with civil defense personnel who had set up their headquarters at the Christchurch Art Gallery confirmed our worst fears about the damage and the casualties sustained in the city.

As we milled around, not sure what to do next, a former member of Mr Bolger’s cabinet came by, walking home from a dental appointment. In one of the stranger coincidences of the day, it turned out he was very close friends with my own friends from a sheep and cattle station in Canterbury. I was supposed to have dinner with them that evening in Christchurch, but since that wasn’t going to happen, and since his apartment was hopelessly damaged, he offered to drive both of us out to Canterbury for a reunion with our mutual friends.

Among the lasting impressions I have of this day were these:

• The initial, immediate sense of bewilderment and fright and the feeling of complete helplessness when the earth moves so violently.

• The calm and amazing professionalism of rescue workers. They had been through another such earthquake only months before, so their training quite naturally kicked in. Nonetheless, even not knowing the fate of their own families, they acted with total professionalism.

• A feeling of warmth and camaraderie with the people of Christchurch who, even when faced with such devastating losses, displayed an infinite amount of hospitality and friendliness to all of us who were there as visitors.

• And finally, a great sense of sadness about this beautiful city for the damage it suffered and continues to suffer in the wake of nearly continuous aftershocks.

What will be the future of Christchurch? We don’t know, but given the courage on display by New Zealanders that day, I have no doubt the city will rise again. I certainly know that I will visit again.

– Jim Kolbe

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Congressman Kolbe, thank you for your contribution to our commemoration of the anniversary of the February 22nd earthquake. Tomorrow we will hear from my FEMA colleague Tim Manning, a disaster management specialist who worked around the clock in Christchurch for days after the quake.