Tuesday, February 22, 2011

6.3 Magnitude Earthquake Hits New Zealand

A woman is rescued from inside a building after an earthquake in Christchurch on February 22, 2011.
The 6.3 Magnitude Earthquake that hit New Zealand yesterday was one of the worst to ever hit the country, and the second in under five months. It is second only to a 7.1 Magnitude one that hit Christchurch last September. This one, however, was far more costly, as the epicentre was far closer to the area of the city where people live and work. Thousands affected by the Earthquake have moved into temporary shelters, and some have even moved into tents outside their homes.

So far, 65 people have been confirmed dead, while hundreds more are still missing, trapped underneath the rubble of fallen buildings. New Zealand officials have confirmed that rescue workers will be working around the clock to free anyone trapped underneath all the debris. Seismologists have said that the issue with this quake is that it was very shallow underneath the ground, and many people were within 10 to 20 kilometers of the epicentre.

Canada is also sending resue workers to the country to assist with cleanup and location of missing persons. I think this is the right thing for us to do, as we need to help other countries when they have been hit with a disaster if we ever want them to do the same for us when and if we are hit with something like they were. \

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/942674--rescue-efforts-in-new-zealand-to-continue-overnight?bn=1

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