ANZAC Day - The loss of New Zealand's Innocence

The Homecoming from Gallipoli by Walter Armiger Bowring, 1916.

On the 15 July 1915 the SS Willochra arrived in Wellington loaded with the first wave of New Zealand wounded from the Gallipoli Peninsula. Bowring's The Homecoming from Gallipoli illustrates the poignant loss-of-innocence moment when civilian New Zealanders first confronted the grim reality of wounds, amputations, psychological trauma and death. The painting is dominated by a seemingly unending line of khaki and bandages zig-zagging down from the ship into the jostling throng of anxious civilians. The flag and coloured streamers all hang limply, suggesting that the families waiting at the dock had expected a victorious celebration but were met instead by parade of exhausted men

ANZAC day is a very poignant day for New Zealanders and Australians as many of us lost relatives in the First and Second World Wars. Tomorrow morning I am going with my two sons to the Commonweath War Graves section of the Kanatta Cemetery in Colombo for the ceremony at 5.30 a.m.

I used to sit on my Grandfather's (Thomas Farrow McNatty) knee as a child and play with a medallion on his watch . After he died my brother was given the watch, medallion and chain and it had the year 1900 engraved on it and showed that his platoon had won a shooting competition in my home town Dunedin. When the 1st World War broke out my Grandfather was too old to go, but five of his brothers went to the war. He told me how his mother (Hannah) and his father (John) hearts were broken when they received news that their son Henry John McNatty had  died on 06 August 1915 at Chunuk Bair, Gallipoli, Turkey  and buried at Chunuk Bair.  Over two year later John and Hannah received word that another son, Walter Ernest McNatty died of wounds, in France, on 03 October 1917. The three other brothers - 4/2202 Sapper Charles Burton McNatty, 65117 Private Frank Kingsland McNatty, 59033 Private Robert McNatty - all survived and I recall vividly meeting two of them in the first 15 years of my life. Tomorrow, 25 April 2013, ANZAC day, I would also like to honour Great Uncle Bert Hodgson, my Grandmother's brother, who left his Southland farm in about 1898-99 to join the Third New Zealand Rough Rider Contingent, as a member of the No. 5 Company, that went to South Africa to join the British Forces against the Boers.

Then to my Father James William Godrey McKerrow who fought with New Zealand's 23rd Battalion in Egypt and later Italy during the Second World War. My Dad had a horrible war, but like many of his generation, seldom talked about it. But during all night long talks I had with him a few years before he died , he opened up and told me of the horrors he witnessed.

Here is a photo of Uncle Bert (second from the left, standing) with the beard, in older age, out hunting with a group of younger men near Waikawa, Southland, New Zealand.

The making of ANZAC day

Anzac Day, as we know it, began to take shape almost as soon as news reached New Zealand of the landing of soldiers on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April, 1915. Within a few years core elements of the day were set and the Anzac story and sacredness of the commemoration enshrined.

New Zealand soldiers bow their heads in prayer at an Anzac Day service at El Saff in Egypt, 25 April 1940.

1915: Gallipoli remembered

The first public recognition of the landings at Gallipoli occurred on 30 April 1915, after news of the dramatic event had reached New Zealand. A half-day holiday was declared for government offices, flags were flown, and patriotic meetings were held. People eagerly read descriptions of the landings and casualty lists – even if the latter made for grim news. Newspapers gushed about the heroism of the New Zealand soldiers. From the outset, public perceptions of the landings evoked national pride. The eventual failure of the Gallipoli operation enhanced its sanctity for many; there may have been no military victory, but there was victory of the spirit as New Zealand soldiers showed courage in the face of adversity and sacrifice.

New Zealand soldiers at Sling Camp, England, created this cover for a publication in 1916. It illustrates how the Gallipoli campaign was celebrated as a source of national pride from the beginning.

New Zealand soldiers at Sling Camp, England, created this cover for a publication in 1916. It illustrates how the Gallipoli campaign was celebrated as a source of national pride from the beginning.

1916: a half-day holiday

Day Gazette notice New Zealanders soon demanded some form of remembrance on the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings. This became both a means of rallying support for the war effort and a public expression of grief – for no bodies were brought home. On 5 April 1916 a half-day holiday for 25 April was gazetted, and church services and recruiting meetings were proposed. Returned servicemen wanted something else: 'the boys don't want to be split up among twenty or thirty different churches on Anzac Day, and it is certain they don't want to go to a meeting to hear people who haven't been there [to war] spout and pass resolutions'. Instead, returned servicemen preferred a public service conducted by an army chaplain. Returned servicemen soon claimed ownership of the day's ceremonies. These included processions of returned and serving personnel, followed by church services and public meetings at town halls. Speeches extolled national unity, imperial loyalty, remembrance of the dead and the need for young men to volunteer at a time when conscription loomed. Large crowds attended the first commemorations in 1916. There were 2000 at the service in Rotorua, and in London, there was a procession of 2000 Australian and New Zealand troops and a service at Westminster Abbey. New Zealand soldiers in Egypt commemorated the day with a service and the playing of the last post, followed by a holiday and sports games. Only a year after the landings some people saw potential profits from using the term Anzac to promote their products. On 31 August 1916, after lobbying by returned soldiers, the use of the word Anzac was prohibited for trade or business purposes.

Patriotism and remembrance

New Zealand Returned Soldiers' (later Services') Association, in co-operation with local authorities, took a key role in the ceremony, organising processions of servicemen, church services and public meetings. The ceremony on 25 April was gradually standardised during and after the war. It became more explicitly a remembrance of the war dead and less a patriotic event once the war was over. The ceremony was conducted around a bier of wreaths and a serviceman's hat, and there was a firing party of servicemen men with their heads bowed and a chaplain who read the words from the military burial service. Three volleys were fired by the guard, and the last post was played. This was followed by a prayer, a hymn and a benediction.

Barbara McKerrow, my sister-in-law, visits the graves of New Zealand soldiers who died at Monte Cassino during WW II. My Father fought with the 23rd New Zealand Batallion in this war. Photo: Barry McKerrow

The ANZACS

 Homecoming from Gallipoli

The word Anzac is part of the culture of New Zealanders and Australians. People talk about the 'spirit of Anzac'; there are Anzac biscuits, and rugby or rugby league teams from the two countries play an Anzac Day test. The word conjures up a shared heritage of two nations, but it also has a specific meaning.

Anzac is the acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This corps was created early in the Great War of 1914–18. In December 1914 the Australian Imperial Force and New Zealand Expeditionary Force stationed in Egypt were placed under the command of Lieutenant General William Birdwood. Initially the term Australasian Corps was suggested, but Australians and New Zealanders were reluctant to lose their separate identities completely.

No one knows who came up with the term Anzac. It is likely that Sergeant K.M. Little, a clerk at Birdwood's headquarters, thought of it for use on a rubber stamp: 'ANZAC' was convenient shorthand. Later the corps used it as their telegraph code word.

The Anzacs first saw action at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. The small cove where the Australian and New Zealand troops landed was quickly dubbed Anzac Cove. Soon the word was being used to describe all Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Eventually, it came to mean any Australian or New Zealand soldier.

After Gallipoli

There were two Anzac corps on the Western Front from 1916, with the New Zealand Division serving in II Australian and New Zealand Army Corps until early 1918. During the Sinai–Palestine campaign the combined Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division was more commonly called the Anzac Mounted Division.

The term continued into other wars. A new Anzac corps was briefly formed during the campaign in Greece in 1941. During the Vietnam War, New Zealand and Australian infantry companies combined to form the Anzac Battalion.

A sacred holiday - Anzac Day

Anzac Day took on a new meaning in a time of peace. Most New Zealanders saw it as a time to express sorrow, not to glorify war. It became a sacred day, but one that was secular in tone and less like a mournful funeral.

A public holiday

The status of Anzac Day was not clear until the early 1920s. Peace was celebrated from 19 to 21 July 1919, but there was no official day of commemoration for the war. The government was prepared to move St George’s Day to 25 April and declare that day to be a government holiday. There was little support for this. Government holidays tended to be religious observances or patriotic occasions, and Dominion Day, the self-styled national day, possessed no emotional appeal.

Anzac Day had strong public appeal. In 1920 the government responded to Returned Services’ Association (RSA) lobbying for 25 April to be declared a holiday; the first was marked in 1921. Legislation making the day a holiday also closed hotels and banks and prohibited race meetings, but this did not meet RSA demands for the day to be ‘Sundayised’. In 1922 the government backed down, and 25 April became a full public holiday as if it were a Sunday.

Nationhood and peace

The features of Anzac Day evolved during the 1920s and 1930s. Public war memorials erected in the 1920s took the place of town halls or churches in the ceremony. In the process, the ceremony itself became less overtly religious. There were occasional protests from churches, but it was RSA leaders, servicemen and local politicians who increasingly made the speeches, rather than clergymen.

Gradually the service became less like a mournful funeral. The laying of wreaths became more central to the ceremony, and there were fewer speeches and hymns. Uniformed members of the armed forces became accepted in many places as participants in the march and service.

New Zealand’s Anzac Day services began to include new features taken, appropriately, from the Anzac partner. The dawn parade, commemorating both the time of the initial landings at Gallipoli and the routine dawn stand-to in the trenches, was an Australian idea. It was widely adopted in New Zealand from 1939 (although some centres, such as Whanganui, had included dawn parades in their commemorations for several years before this). The cold and darkness breaking into sunrise added to the symbolism of the occasion.

Common themes in the speeches were nationhood, national and imperial loyalty, sacrifice and peace. During the Depression, Anzac Day speeches mentioned the ideals of unity and selflessness. As the international situation deteriorated in the 1930s, Anzac Day speeches focused on the need for defence preparations and the importance of not forgetting past lessons. The number of marchers grew as returned servicemen became more interested in commemorating their war experiences through public ritual. Anzac Day began to take on the features of an annual reunion.

My thanks to New Zealand History on Line for permission to use extracts from their site.

When was resilience merged into risk reduction?

I am convinced that risk reduction as a community resilience concept was put firmly on the global map during the Tsunami operation in Indonesia with Pak Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, then Minister of Tsunami, driving it. 

I was proud that the New Zealand Government funded a global workshop on  'Promoting Initiatives on Disaster Risk Management' that embedded both concepts of risk reduction and resilience  as an integrated cross-cutting initiative to be a crucial part of all future disaster planning and recovery operations,  and was etched forever in the final tsunami report from all Governments: 

The Tsunami Legacy: Innovation Breakthroughs and Change

The Tsunami Legacy report, which Pak Kuntoro presented to Ban-Ki-moon, Bill Clinton and Helen Clarke (UNDP) in 2009 in New York is a brilliantly compiled booklet. I was fortunate to be there with fellow New Zealander Jerry Talbot also from IFRC.

The IFRC have since funded a practitioners toolkit on disaster recovery which will be launched soon in New York. 

If you want to read Tsunami Legacy click here

Pak Kuntoro Mangkusubroto (left) then Minister of Tsunami, and Bob McKerrow Head of Delegation IFRC Indonesia.

It is worth having a read of the Executive summary of this report to refresh yourself of what was learned from the Tsunami Operation.

In the years and months that have gone by since 

the devastating Indian Ocean Earthquake and 

Tsunami of December 2004, the affected 

communities – from Banda Aceh to Batticaloa, 

Puntland to Phang Nga, Noonu to Nagapattinam – 

have seen both tragedy and triumph. 

Tragedy, because the destructive power of the 

tsunami left countless communities without homes or 

livelihoods, eradicated key infrastructure in countries 

around the region, and irrevocably damaged large 

swaths of coastal area. In all, more than 228,000 

people – in 14 countries – perished as a result of the 

disaster. 

Triumph, because while the disaster wreaked havoc 

and devastation on the coastlines along the Indian 

Ocean rim, it also triggered an overwhelming national 

and international response, delivering emergency 

relief and recovery assistance through multiple 

partners, funds and programmes. Milestone successes 

have been collectively achieved in supporting affected 

communities to restore their lives and livelihoods, and 

to reconstruct their houses and settlements, all with 

care to empower future generations to thrive. 

Individual citizens, national governments and 

international financial institutions around the globe 

contributed funds to the recovery, resulting in an 

estimated US$13.5 billion in aid. 

With an operation of such unprecedented scope, a 

number of useful lessons have been learned across the 

recovery spectrum about what worked and what did 

not. To take stock of these collective and country specific findings,

 this report asks if those involved in this massive undertaking were able to achieve takes its cue from former UN Secretary-General Kofi 

Annan’s words – “it’s not enough to pick up the 

pieces. We must draw on every lesson we can to 

avoid such catastrophes in the future” – and from the 

call of the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, 

President Bill Clinton, to “build back better.” 

“Who Stops to Think?’ The Challenges of 

Leadership and Coordination 

Both the destruction caused by – and the response to 

– the tsunami were unusual in terms of scale. The 

unique situation warranted intensive strategic 

coordination for the recovery to be effective as well as 

considerable pressure to deliver tangible results. 

Closest to the epicentre, the Indonesian Province of 

Aceh faced one of the most complex situations with a 

massive loss of life, extensive destruction of 

infrastructure, and an extraordinary influx of actors. 

In response, a dedicated body, the Aceh-Nias 

Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), was 

set up in April 2005, with a 4-year mandate to 

coordinate all recovery activities as well as implement 

a number of government projects. 

Elsewhere, in Sri Lanka, the tsunami was a catalyst for 

creation of the Ministry of National Disaster 

Management and Human Rights in 2006. The 

Government of Maldives moved swiftly to set up a 

similar structure. On the same day as the tsunami, it 

created a National Disaster Management Centre 

(NDMC) to coordinate activities. 

This development of lead governance mechanisms for 

relief and recovery, tasked with coordinating 

ministries, donors, agencies, communities, women’s 

groups and others, and with building national and 

local capacities to manage the process, turned out to 

be a critical breakthrough in all these countries. 

Carefully connecting the local body to a broader, 

global coordinating infrastructure – as was done in 

Indonesia via the Global Consortium for Tsunami 

Recovery, the Multi Donor Fund (MDF) and the UN 

Office of the Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias 

meaningful development and reform. 

(UNORC) – was key to facilitating coordination in a 

complex recovery context involving countless 

international and national stakeholders. As new 

structures, void of institutional baggage, these 

agencies also benefited from the ability to be flexible 

and quickly adapt to local circumstances. 

In India, too, where no new body needed to be 

created, the government seized on the moment by 

devolving significant authority to local administrators, 

a crucial aspect to the Tamil Nadu recovery effort. A 

network of state- and district-level knowledge centres 

provided the infrastructure for disseminating vast 

amounts of information and reliable village-level data; 

it also became a focal point for NGOs on how they 

could contribute to recovery. The key to coordinating 

recovery here and elsewhere was maintaining speedy, 

flexible and accountable coordination systems and 

procedures, including at the local level. 

Recovery partners in Indonesia learned a similar 

lesson. By giving the coordination structure full 

authority and basing it ‘close to the action’ it was able 

to become more responsive to the local context. 

Importantly, BRR was given full authority to manage 

all aspects of the tsunami recovery in Aceh on behalf 

smoother coordination process, devoid of any 

potential inter-ministry politics. Significantly, BRR 

Headquarters was located in the capital of Aceh, and 

not in Jakarta. 

Flexibility and know-how, coupled with a culture of 

risk-taking, was a central aspect of BRR’s success and 

led to several important breakthroughs and 

innovations. These included the Tim Terpadu (a one 

stop shop for processing all visa, customs, tax and 

other clearance requirements for thousands of aid 

workers and equipment) and a mandatory Project 

Concept Note (PCN) format for all programmes, 

which helped avoid unnecessary duplication and 

ensured efficient use of funds. 

Similarly, when Maldives faced a shortfall of nearly 

US$100 million in recovery funds, a number of 

innovative partnership strategies were implemented 

to secure additional funding. The unique “Adopt-AnIsland” initiative implemented by UNDP, emerged as 

a particularly powerful marketing tool under which 

donor support could be matched directly to a specific 

project. By mid-2006, 44 percent of the US$41 

million that UNDP had raised was mobilised through 

Adopt-An-Island. In both cases the willingness to be 

opportunistic and take risks with “breakthrough 

initiatives” accelerated recovery and facilitated 

‘building back better’. 

In the final analysis, however, lack of local capacity 

has remained an issue, throughout. In the Maldives, 

the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) 

was set up to coordinate activities in a similar vein to 

BRR. But while the Centre took the lead in many 

aspects, being new to disaster management it relied 

on outside help to a significant degree. And in the 

future, it must be remembered that building local 

capacity is an important priority if the purpose-built 

recovery agency is temporary and the local 

Government is expected to sustain the gains in the 

long term. 

Seeing Those Who Are ‘Invisible’. Achieving 

Equity In Recovery 

While international codes and principles guide relief 

and recovery efforts, many tsunami affected 

communities were still unable to adequately access 

assistance immediately after the disaster because of 

barriers associated with their gender, ethnicity, age, 

class, religion or occupation. Often, tight deadlines 

imposed by the need to deliver fast had the effect of 

dropping equity issues – or of the wrong projects 

being taken up by the wrong organisations for the 

wrong reasons. 

Many people could not access assistance after disasters 

simply because of their gender, ethnicity, age, class, 

religion or occupation. In particular, it is women and 

the poorest whose needs tend to be overlooked. Yet 

the tsunami also provided an important opportunity to 

address underlying social inequities and strengthen 

human rights protection for vulnerable groups, a task 

quickly seized upon by India’s strong civil society and 

of the central government, which allowed for a much 

vibrant media. Combined with a state government in 11

Tamil Nadu that displayed swiftness, responsiveness 

and openness, this made the difference in bringing all 

survivors back on the road toward recovery much 

faster. 

As recovery actors in all five locales quickly realised, 

there could be no more business-as-usual when 

dealing with a disaster of such unusual proportions. 

Responding to the initial exclusion, they were quick 

to catch up in innovative ways, many employing a 

human rights perspective to create an enabling 

environment for participation. In India, the State 

openness to working with representatives of different 

social groups in addressing flaws stands out as 

particularly praiseworthy. Authorities in Tamil Nadu 

did not simply respond to practical needs but offered 

real opportunities for change, through several key 

steps. 

Breakthroughs in India included the implementation 

of disaster-resistant construction and the institution of 

inexpensive, 10-year housing insurance against all 

forms of disasters. Houses were built for indirectly 

affected families who were also given housing 

assistance and rights to land ownership. Women 

benefited from opportunities for strategic change in 

their status, such as joint housing rights for spouses 

and funds for the education and resettlement of 

orphaned adolescent girls and unmarried women, 

amongst other initiatives. 

Across the waters, in Sri Lanka, strong emphasis was 

placed on equity and the targeting of vulnerable 

groups after the tsunami, especially with regard to 

permanent housing, road building and highlighting of 

issues such as human rights, participation and the 

environment. Along these lines, a number of 

successful – and flexible – interventions were 

initiated, with many partners coming to see the 

importance of addressing conflict and post-conflict 

issues in the post-tsunami setting as a consequence. 

affected in permanent housing under its Unified 

Assistance Scheme or had their houses upgraded. 

Hallmarks of the scheme included clear eligibility 

criteria, management at local and provincial levels, 

and significant community involvement. 

For equity gains to be sustained it was necessary to 

anchor innovative practices in the institutional 

infrastructure of the recovery – good intentions can 

only do so much if systems are not in place to track 

and identify vulnerable groups. Rather than a 

piecemeal approach, then, countries succeeded best 

when there was a commitment from high-level 

managers to ensure equity. In India, a series of 

independent equity audits were carried out in 2005 

and 2006, at the request of local and international 

NGOs, by the Social Equity Audit Secretariat and 

trained auditors. The success of the audits is reflected 

in the fact that amongst some NGOs, the percentage 

of budget that went to directly support interventions 

for the excluded rose from 10 or 12 percent to 60 

percent. 

Building on women’s grassroots activism, recovery 

actors in Indonesia, among other things, sought to 

ensure that gender issues were considered in all 

development sectors through a special unit that 

formulated a comprehensive gender policy. UNIFEM 

placed a gender advisor in BRR to provide sustained 

input and guidance and BRR also employed genderspecific 

data for monitoring and evaluation, developed practical 

checklists for use in health, housing, education, livelihoods 

and institutional change, and promoted active participation 

of tsunami-affected women in plans for their future. 

Successes in India and Indonesia underscore the 

importance of developing institutional antidiscrimination
capacity by reviewing organisational culture and offering
 training to staff on rights-based approaches, including
awareness and understanding of gender-sensitive
international codes, guidelines and principles. 

Depending on the context, this was not always an easy 

goal to achieve across the board. In Sri Lanka and 

Aceh, both regions affected by conflict, there was a 

need to also address the victims of conflict as well as 

those of the tsunami. However, most post-tsunami 

organisations largely ignored the post-conflict 

context, in part due to donor-stipulated restrictions 

government’s timeliness, responsiveness and 

For example, the government resettled the conflict-12

on how they could use their funds. This led to 

numerous grievances raised by conflict-affected 

communities and perceptions of rising inequalities in 

aid provision. If conflict sensitivity had been more 

widespread and funds not restricted to tsunami 

victims only, building back better could have been 

more equitable all along. The provision of ”untied” 

donor funds that offer flexibility to modify assistance 

packages to suit local needs would have enabled more 

flexibility to address these issues in a straightforward 

manner. 

Creating a ‘Virtuous Loop’: Embracing People’s 

Participation 

While citizen participation is widely considered a 

cornerstone of democratic governance and efficient 

programming, too often those most in need after the 

tsunami were not seriously consulted about planning 

or implementation of relief and recovery. Concerted 

efforts were made in all countries affected by the 

disaster, however, to curb this initial trend. Perhaps 

the most valuable benefit of promoting participation 

was something that, in the end, is not easily 

quantifiable: a feeling of individual empowerment, of 

“ownership” of community resources, and the 

unleashing of people’s own capacities to cope. 

Efforts to overcome the lack of consultation were 

particularly successful in Sri Lanka, Maldives and 

Thailand, where recovery actors employed 

participation by both women and men, through 

extensive people’s consultations, beneficiary surveys, 

Help Desks and community monitoring of projects. 

The Government of Sri Lanka empowered the 

national Human Rights Commission to conduct 

people’s consultations in more than 1,100 tsunami
affected communities in 13 districts. Although it was 

not always easy to ensure community participation, in 

cases where participation was enforced, projects were 

more successful. 

As a result of the thousands of complaints received 

during the people’s consultations, United Nations 

could provide support to the Human Rights 

Commission in establishing Help Desks in each district 

to raise awareness among communities on their rights 

and entitlements and to follow up on grievances. 

In the Maldivian context, community consultations 

had rarely occurred before to the extent instituted 

after the tsunami. Beneficiary surveys deepened 

knowledge of important qualitative dimensions of 

recovery, increasing accountability to affected 

communities, and were hailed as “one of the most 

significant innovations of the tsunami response.” 

Thailand, too, made it a priority to give communities 

a strong voice. Local authorities took the lead in many 

reconstruction efforts and were supported to improve 

community consultation, including training to 

strengthen women’s leadership and decision making. 

One of the most successful such initiatives was the 

restoration of indigenous livelihoods in Koh Lanta, an 

island district of 30,000 in Krabi province. Taking 

into account the traditional livelihoods of the many 

ethnic groups on the island, the island was developed 

by community mobilisation, savings schemes, and 

cooperatives. 

Still, it was not always easy to ensure community 

participation, especially as some agencies and 

organisations sometimes tended to approach the issue 

with only limited enthusiasm. Many, it appears, 

tacked on consultations as a programmatic 

afterthought, and did not approach it as a key 

component of the project’s success. Indeed, several 

NGOs have acknowledged that mistakes could have 

been avoided if a more participatory approach had 

been used earlier on. Many had to readjust along the 

way to respond to realities and needs on the ground. 

A key requirement for these organisations was to 

decentralise authority within the organisation to the 

local levels. Both CARE and World Vision, for 

example, put their field offices in the driver’s seat, 

reasoning that they would be best able to deal with the 

needs and demands of the tsunami affected people. 

Some other NGOs, on the other hand, found it more 

difficult to implement effective participation since 

many key decisions were being made back in their 

headquarters, rather than in the field. 

Similarly, the success in the Maldives did not come 

easy. For one, it proved difficult to engage 

communities in disaster risk management awareness, 

given that many Maldivians saw the tsunami as a “one off”
event that would not recur. Critically, however, 

the Government and recovery partners were 

persistent, even translating basic disaster risk 

management terminology into the local Dhivehi 

language. 

Countering Corruption and Ensuring 

Accountability 

From the first days of the recovery, then, steps had to 

be taken to ensure anti-corruption and accountability 

would inform all levels of operations, starting with 

the institutions themselves. BRR set out to pay its 

employees competitive salaries to ensure that the best 

and brightest were not “poached” by international 

agencies – and, more importantly, to break a culture 

of gift-giving. 

To enable complete transparent access and tracking of 

all tsunami-related funds, BRR developed a 

comprehensive information management system, the 

Recovery Aceh-Nias Database (RAND). All agencies 

involved in tsunami recovery were required to 

register with BRR, set up an account on RAND and 

send regular updates on funds committed and 

disbursed. Complementing the process-based RAND, 

a “survey-based” Housing Geospatial Database (HGD) 

was created to provide a snapshot of recovery by 

verifying and digitally mapping the vast housing 

reconstruction sector. The HGD was recently merged 

with a third database, covering all other assets – 

bridges, hospitals, schools, roads, etc. – creating a 

combined information system which is one of the 

most comprehensive and “leak-proof” in the recovery 

spectrum. 

As Indonesia realised, however, good systems will not 

deliver ‘on their own’. Accountability mechanisms 

need to be client oriented. After being slow to get off 

the ground, international and national partners, and 

provincial and district governments were contacted to 

identify what types of analytical products, as well as 

what information and in which format, would be 

useful. Then, RAND changed accordingly – absorbing 

a major lesson in ensuring participation. 

A strong complaints mechanism is equally important. 

Early designation of grievance focal points and an 

adequate budget for grievance facilitation are critical 

for reporting of abuses and corruption, as is 

empowering affected communities, including the 

most vulnerable, in understanding and using these 

mechanisms. Affected people must be empowered to 

articulate community claims, actively monitor and 

evaluate reconstruction and make their own choices. 

Recovery data, however complex it may be, should be 

shared in layperson terms to the extent possible. 

In Sri Lanka the establishment of an effective 

complaint mechanism through local Help Desks (in 

response to input solicited in consultations) was a 

particular breakthrough. The public could here 

question eligibility for assistance, report potential 

cases of corruption, or file a complaint. By October 

2006, the DRMU had received 17,000 complaints and 

successfully resolved most. In addition, UNDP Sri 

Lanka set up an AidWatch initiative to enable 

communities to closely monitor projects. Such vital 

linkages contributed to increasing responsibility and 

accountability toward the community and laid 

groundwork for continued networking. 

Many organisations, notably BRR, responded to the 

threat of corruption by putting in place more 

With large amounts of cash and goods in motion, 

corruption is always a threat during a crisis. But despite 

the influx of billions of dollars in tsunami-affected 

countries, corruption levels across the board were 

kept remarkably low. Key to this success was a 

commitment to view corruption, not as a nuisance or 

unfortunate side effect of the recovery, but as a core 

threat to the reconstruction effort as a whole. In Aceh, 

where an unprecedented US$6.4 billion were pledged 

for recovery, Dr. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the 

Director of BRR, urged the recovery community to set 

the bar high: “We see the fight against corruption in 

Aceh and Nias as advancing Indonesia’s wider struggle 

against corruption.” A punitive focus on “finding 

corruptors” would not be enough.

 To tackle graft and fraud, BRR became 

the first government agency to have an autonomous 

Anti-Corruption Unit (SAK) set up to work with 

other government institutions, international 

institutions like the World Bank, and civil society 

organisations such as Transparency International 

Indonesia in carrying out its primary objectives of 

prevention, investigation and education. Since its 

inception in September 2005, SAK has received 1,530 

confidential complaints. 

What if it Happens Again? Innovations in 

Disaster Risk Management 

The tsunami has precipitated a critical shift in the 

minds of policy makers and communities alike. It is no 

longer tenable to view disasters as isolated events and 

respond without taking into account the social and 

economic factors that aggravate the situation. The 

tsunami drew attention to the importance and 

urgency of reducing the enabling causes of disaster. In 

all tsunami-affected countries, a newfound enthusiasm 

for securing the country and community against future 

disasters has engendered the creation of disaster 

preparedness institutions and policies, new regional 

and national early warning systems, and concerted 

efforts at promoting community-based disaster 

awareness and preparedness at every turn. 

Critically, new disaster preparedness structures have 

been established in four out of the five tsunami affected 

countries and a regional tsunami early warning system has 

been operational since 2006, complementing the global 

commitment pledged by 168 governments to reduce 

multi-hazard risks and vulnerabilities under the Hyogo 

Framework for  Action 2005-2015. 

Thailand in particular has been a leader in numerous 

disaster risk management initiatives, and its early 

warning system is well-positioned to become a 

regional role model. Through ASEAN, the Thai 

government swiftly proposed a regional tsunami early 

warning centre that would coordinate with various 

nations’ early warning systems to ensure complementarity.
It established a Voluntary Trust Fund and donated
US$10 million in seed money to it; additional funding
came from donors such as Sweden. 

Thailand was also quick to create a ‘one-stop map 

server’, combining databases that previously could not 

be used together into one. This clearing house of 

information includes high-resolution satellite images, 

aerial photographs and base infrastructure maps, all 

available at the touch of a button in an emergency. 

Maldives’ first disaster risk profile, created after the 

tsunami and based on Geographic Information System 

mapping, represents another innovative approach to 

profile as a key source for development strategies to 

mitigate climate change and future disasters, 

particularly in developing a “Safer Islands” 

programme, which provides incentives for voluntary 

migration to safer islands. 

Sri Lanka, too, has come a long way in establishing 

comprehensive disaster management-related systems. 

Organised around 7 key themes, a “road map” has 

been developed, identifying over 100 investments to 

reduce disaster risk. Under it, numerous innovative 

initiatives have begun toward developing a multihazard 

approach for disaster management. In addition, the Disaster 

Management Act that had been under discussion for 

about a decade prior was passed in May 2005. 

Following intensive efforts by 29 governments around 

the Indian Ocean, a regional tsunami early warning 

system has been operational since 2006 as part of a 

coordination plan by UNESCO-Intergovernmental 

Oceanographic Commission. However, preparedness is 

not just about high-tech early warning systems. Community 

participation in disaster risk mitigation is also a necessity. 

Women, in particular, are well-placed to participate in risk 

assessments and the promotion of disaster risk reduction, 

ensuring consideration of gender-specific concerns. 

Training of a number of community leaders, teachers, local 

disaster managers and media personnel has demonstrated 

the use of response techniques. 

Even before the tsunami, large community-based 

disaster risk management programmes existed in 

vulnerable areas in countries such as India – where 

disaster management. The government has used the 

they have been credited for capacity strengthening in 

search and rescue, first and evacuation methods that 

resulted in saving countless lives during the disaster as 

Post-tsunami, excellent opportunities have been 

presented for deepening community disaster risk 

management across the region, setting up local and 

national partnerships. In Thailand, for example, the 

early warning system was taken to the local level, 

linked with loudspeakers in rural villages and with 

more than 100 warning towers along the coast. 

The tsunami, finally, brought an increased awareness 

on the importance of natural defence barriers. Healthy 

coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves, estuaries, 

wetlands and sandy beaches, are able to provide good 

protection against the force of tsunamis and storm 

surges and contribute to disaster risk reduction while 

providing diverse livelihoods, sufficient nutritious 

food, shelter and access to goods for communities. 

Several organisations and programmes, such as 

Mangroves for the Future, now focus on the 

humanitarian implications of failure to protect coastal 

ecosystems. But while most people are aware of the 

importance of resource-based industries such as 

ecotourism and fisheries to coastal economies, there is 

less comprehension of just how important these goods 

and raw materials are in terms of their multiplier 

effects nationally and locally. 

Will We Do Better Next Time? 

If another tsunami happened tomorrow, would the 

response from governments and the international 

community be stronger and better? Can we multiply 

our successes, learn from our shortfalls and apply this 

in the future for both emergency relief and longer term
recovery?
You only know lessons have really been learned when
 you stop thinking about them and simply do them. 

Particularly in light of the current global financial 

crisis, many believe that whatever innovations we 

think are replicable have to be at a low-cost level. 

Luckily, the most important lessons we have learned 

are not necessarily those that depend on the 

availability of large amounts of funding. Effective 

leadership and coordination, beginning at the 

development organisations alike, can go a long way in 

ensuring an efficient and sustainable recovery. And 

while coordination and leadership may be more easily 

talked about than put into practice, they remain 

particularly important in a disaster context where 

chaos goes hand in hand with calamity. 

respond to the voices of those most affected – 

including those normally not consulted, especially 

solving the leadership equation. The many delivery 

partners who make up the reconstruction community 

must also develop the quality and effectiveness of their 

leadership. 

We have learned that accountability and preparedness 

are critical, as is a willingness to take risks and embed 

institutional as well as cultural reform amid disaster 

response. This must include serious reflection and be 

a continuous process through which weaknesses are 

overturned and strengths capitalised upon. 

Our most important lesson, however, is that disasters 

themselves should be seen as opportunities for reform 

and improvement. What stands out in this report is 

that governments in all five of the most tsunami affected 

countries embraced change as a core ethic to confront 

this catastrophe. The challenge now is to 

constantly build on and improve these new 

institutional arrangements. Change must be 

embraced, not for its own sake, but rather because in 

a disaster, organisational weaknesses are severely 

tested and exposed. Continuous improvement is the 

only way to ensure all new institutional arrangements 

remain robust and relevant. 

Christchurch earthquake - 23 February 2011

:Rescuers  battled over night trying to find up to 200 people believed to be trapped in buildings in Christchurch. Another survivor is found.

UPDATE WEDNESDAY 23 February

LATEST: A temporary mortuary to deal with Christchurch earthquake victims has been moved to the Burnham Military Camp "for capacity reasons", Cabinet Ministers have just been told.

The development comes as Christchurch people have woken to a scene of absolute carnage, with bodies lying throughout the central business district. The living, trapped in many buildings, are fighting for their lives after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck at a shallow depth 10km southeast of the city at 1pm yesterday.

Rescuers are still hearing signs of life from the two worst hit buildings - Canterbury Television in Madras St and Pyne Gould Guiness in Cambridge Tce - both of which collapsed. Three people had this morning been rescued from the CTV building and eight from the PGG building.

The number of bodies formally identified stands at 39 but that number is expected to soar today. Prime Minister John Key said the 65 death toll quoted yesterday "remains an accurate prediction".

Key has ordered that the flags on all Government building fly at half mast until further notice as a mark of respect for people killed in the quake.

Police had deployed a large disaster identification team and there had been offers from Australia for more teams.

"The challenges are very, very real. In the health area, a lot of extra resource is being deployed," Wevers told ministers.

Christchurch Hospital seemed to be managing the load, however. Schools would be used as local water distribution points.

A lot of offers of support from the private sector would be marshalled by civil defence in Christchurch.

"The key point is the co-ordination from the Wellington end and at the Canterbury end. It's working reasonably well."

RESCUES FROM WRECKED BUILDINGS

Rescue efforts by hundreds of search and rescue workers from around New Zealand today focuses on the collapsed Canterbury Television and Pyne Gould Guiness buildings.

Shane Cole, a Fire Service station officer and an member of the urban search and rescue team, said rescuers had heard banging in buildings and one person had managed to send a text message this morning while trapped on the first floor of the CTV building.


They had rescued eight people from the PGG building overnight and three people from CTV. No one had been rescued so far this morning.

He did not know how many were still trapped but estimated there were up to 20 in the PGG building and "a lot more" in the CTV building.

Cole said rescue staff were were operating in "perilous" conditions with aftershocks further destabilising buildings.

Hesaid their focus from the start had been to extract those still alive and they had been forced to work around fatalities.

"we just had to give up (on them) and concentrate on the live people."

They had started the recovery by breaking holes in the collapsed roof then had moved to the rear of the building which was less damaged, where they had carried out more rescues.

He said they had been "reasonably successful" so far and were hopeful of finding more people alive.

Some of those rescued had suffered serious injuries, with one trapped up to the waist, and others with trapped limbs.

Cole said the work was painstaking and the building perilous with persistent aftershocks but "we just keep going. We've still got people trapped.

"it's tough working in the building with aftershocks - it's quite scary."

Those trapped were overwhelmed to be rescued, he said.

"they're really ecstatic that we've got them out. Some of the people that we've found they're trapped in half a metre ... Space surrounded by furniture and everything.

"I guess the most sobering thought for them is when they get out and see the condition of their building

22 February


It's been a traumatic day for so many people living in Christchurch as a second major earthquake struck within six months. I got the news at 7 a.m. this morning  Sri Lanka time and the first thing I did was phone my daughter Ruia, who lives in my house in Christchurch. She works in a medical centre and when the quake struck, the ceiling of the clinic fell in, and fortunately no one was injured. She and her colleagues treated people who were injured in the area but were sent home as aftershocks were causing more falling debris. But on the other side of Christchurch, nearer the epi-centre, the situation was tragic. In the centre of the city where tourists and lunch time workers gather, people were crushed by falling debris and trapped in buildings that collapsed.

It's just after midnight in Christchurch, 12 hours after the quake, and rescue workers toil through the night  burying into collapsed buildings, hoping to find people alive

Everyone whether in Christchurch or who had relatives there, experienced extremes of emotion. Some of the New Zealanders who worked in Indonesia after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed over 150,000 people in Indonesia, received a message from the former Minister for Tsunami, and now the Prime Minister in Indonesia, Mangkusubroto. His message was sent especially to David Hopkins; Noel Trustrum and myself for the various forms of work we did in the psot Tsunami operation. New Zealand specialists assisted Indonesia, now Indonesia is expressing solidarity. the message read:

My heart is with you in this difficult time. Hope all your love ones are safemfrom the earthquake. If theres anything that we can help, I am at your disposal. I pray to God for your safety, Kuntoro.-


Here is the latest from various New Zealand websites

Construction workers and search and rescue specialists toiled under floodlights to dig out survivors and the dead from buildings flattened by the earthquake that ripped the city apart.

Dozens of search and rescue and medical staff have arrived to continue with the frantic recovery effort.

Yesterday's earthquake has claimed at least 65 lives and scores more are injured in what Prime Minister John Key says "may well be New Zealand's darkest day".

At least 65 people are dead after the shallow 6.3 earthquake hit 10km southeast of the city, just before 1pm. There have been constant aftershocks, as powerful as magnitude 5.7. The latest significant aftershock measured magnitude 5.0 and hit at 7.43pm.

The death toll is already the second highest from a New Zealand earthquake - outranked only by the 256 people killed in the violent 7.9 1931 Hawke's Bay quake, whose 70th anniversary was marked earlier this month.

Police have reported "multiple fatalities" at several locations in the downtown area, including in buses crushed by falling buildings.

Buildings have been destroyed with at least 100 people believed to be trapped inside. Rescuers warned some people remained trapped overnight.

More bodies were likely to be pulled from the rubble of the Canterbury Television building which collapsed in the earthquake, a man involved in assisting rescue teams in their hunt for survivors said tonight.

Rescue workers frantically try to find those trapped inside the Pyne Gould Corporation building.

The Southern Demolition employee, who did not want to be named, told NZPA rescue personnel pulled bodies from the rubble while he was assisting in the recovery effort.

"We were working on one side of the building and on that side we managed to pull one person alive but we also pulled out a body. On the other side they pulled out four or five - I don't know if they were dead or alive.

"It was awful," he said.

The New Zealand Red Cross Response 

"NZRC is not currently requiring or accepting donations of goods or volunteers at this time. NZRC are currently focusing on roles supporting the CDEM response. Urgent email enquiries can be referred to our National Emergency Operating Centre at nzrceoc@redcross.org.nz.

"For welfare related enquiries and requirements for affected persons please call the Government help line on 0800 7799977 (NZ number)."

"To lodge an enquiry in relation to missing relatives please call the NZ Red Cross National Enquiry Centre on 0800 REDCROSS (0800 733 276) (note this line may be overloaded)"

"International restoring family links enquiries from Red Cross or Red Crescent national societies can be sent to familylinks@redcross.org.nz further information will be pending."

The Australian Red Cross, through their bilateral agreement with the New Zealand Red Cross, will be sending emergency support staff to assist with the operation.

A bus crushed by falling debris.

TOLL COULD RISE

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has told TVNZ the death toll could double.

It could be later this morning before the number of missing is known.

The next official update is expected at 5.30am today when Civil Defence will hold a press conference in the Beehive bunker.

Up to 31 Japanese students from a foreign-language school are believed to among those trapped under collapsed buildings in the city.  The students, from Toyama city, were eating lunch when the earthquake struck. There are reports three of the students have been taken to hospital, one in a serious condition.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun's online Japanese edition, responses have been heard from nine of the trapped students.

The Pyne Gould Guinness building has tilted at an awkward angle and slumped to the ground with 30 people thought to be inside, while people are trapped under desks in the Christchurch Press building opposite Christ Church Cathedral.

Fatalities have been reported in the Canterbury TV building, while the Forsyth Barr Tower has lost its stairs, so those trapped high above ground had to be lifted out by crane.

People are also feared trapped in hotels, Civil Defence Minister John Carter said.

"What we don't know is whether they were out looking around the town or were in their rooms."

Christchurch Hospital is operational but people are being asked to keep the Emergency Department for major casualties only.

A generator has been brought in to maintain power supply at Christchurch Hospital Riverside Block. "If power is not fully restored this evening patients at Christchurch Hospital's Riverside Block may need to be evacuated," a statement said.

Click here for further information from BBC who provided this map: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12533291

SUPPORT ARRIVES FOR LONG NIGHT

A Royal New Air Force Boeing 757 was due to land in Christchurch from Whenuapai Air Force Base at 10.30pm last night carrying 54 search and rescue staff, plus 20 St John's medical staff.

More than 200 soldiers are assisting NZ Police with cordon duties and the Navy's vessel Canterbury docked in Lyttelton has offloaded around 160 persons for cordon support duties.

Two Iroquois helicopters from Ohakea have arrived to assist with rescue efforts in the city. Other Navy ships are also on the way.

The NZ Army's medical teams are at four different locations around Christchurch with military officers working with the Police. NZ Defence Force firefighters are working with local fire brigades.

DEVASTATING FORCE
English said the force of the earthquake was above the limit modern buildings were designed to withstand.

An estimated 1200 people sheltered in Addington overnight, while nurses with specialist intensive care skills are being flown to the city.

Schools are closed until further notice.

Residents have been told to stay at home and save any safe water for drinking, including rain water which could be collected as rain falls tonight as the city's reservoirs have been shut down. Toilets should not be flushed and water should be boiled as sewage systems have failed, Parker said.

Parker said up to 25 buildings of significant size in the city were probably damaged beyond repair.

Hospitals around the South Island were being cleared to take the hundreds of casualties expected, while makeshift hospitals were being set up in parts of Christchurch.

Emergency triage centres for the injured are operating at Latimer Square, Canterbury University and the Sanitarium Building in Papanui - not South City or the Spotlight Mall, Sydenham, police said.

"This is a big problem. Far worse in casualties than the 4th of September, largely because it happened at a different time of the day," Civil Defence director John Hamilton said.

SCREAMS FROM COLLAPSED BUILDING

Pyne Gould Corporation has confirmed that staff from the building are missing, but would not say how many. The company was working to account for each staff member.

People died when buses were crushed under falling building facades, Radio NZ reported.

At the building's cordon, Labour Party leader Phil Goff said earlier this evening that at least 30 people were feared trapped inside and at least one person was killed. Families were congregating at the cordon, he said.

Parker said: "There are people fighting for their lives at the moment but there are also people fighting for them."

"We're in the middle of an extremely serious situation. We're preparing ourselves for what I think will be a really sad, bleak day for our city but be reassured everybody is doing what they can."

Parker said there were currently people still trapped in cars and buildings, with some being able to phone to say they're trapped.

An aerial view of the  Pyne Gould Corporation building.



Defence Forces have been called in to assist with the earthquake recovery and were going door to door checking on residents.

The airport was closed to all but emergency flights and Lyttelton tunnel was shut.

Christchurch Hospital remained open but was also damaged. It asked that only seriously injured people come to the emergency department. It had a full emergency plan in operation.

Power should return to half of Christchurch tonight, with most of the city back on in the next three to four days, lines company Orion said.

St John's Ambulance had run out of ambulances and was using four wheel drives to get the injured out.

The New Zealand Blood Service has been flooded with calls from people wanting to donate blood.

The service said it presently had adequate blood stock, but would advise through its Facebook page and website if that changed.

COLD, WET NIGHT FOR RESIDENTS

Thousands of homeless Christchurch residents are tonight bracing for a long, cold, wet and worrying night in welfare centres.

The Christchurch City Council said a welfare centre at Addington Raceway had closed due to high umbers, believed to be about 1200.

People were instead asked to go to Burnside School, Papanui High School, the Lyttelton Recreation Centre, Brooklands Community Centre or Akaroa Senior School.

WeatherWatch.co.nz said the temperature was expected to fall to 9-10degC overnight, compounded by light rain. Many more aftershocks were also expected.

However, the showers should clear in the morning and a high of 18degC was expected.

An Urban Search and Rescue team (SAR) from Australia would arrive after midnight.

Two New Zealand SAR teams were on their way as well as ambulances from around the South Island.

Some critical patients had been flown from Christchurch to other hospitals around the South Island.

Military personnel were being coordinated to make areas safe.


CATHEDRAL, HOTELS DAMAGED

The spire of Christchurch Cathedral, the heart of the city, has collapsed.

Dean of Cathedral Peter Beck said they tried to get out who they could but it was now in the hands of emergency services. "It doesn't look good".

He had "no idea" of how many people were inside.

Power was out in a significant portion of the city. While some parts will have power restored overnight it could be fours days till power was restored across the city.

A significant number of hotels have collapsed and it was not known how many people were inside, the Civil Defence Minister said earlier this afternoon.

Bodies were seen being taken out of the damaged YHA hostel in the city.

On the corner of Lichfield and High Streets, a block of shops had completely collapsed and rescue services believed four or five people are trapped in the rubble.

One body had been pulled from the wreckage.

People trapped in the CBD have put signs up at the windows saying 'HELP'.

Helicopters were being used to put out fires in the central city.

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS

Amber Armitage said people were wandering around central Christchurch trying to get out but all exits from the city were blocked.

There was a strong smell of gas and clouds of dust.

A bus on Colombo St was "completely trapped under bricks" and people were working to free passengers trapped in it.

She said the quake felt much stronger than the 7.1 quake on September 4, 2010 and believed the city was "irreparable".

Former Blenheim woman Joh Bloomberg was working in Ballantynes department store in central Christchurch when the earthquake struck.

"I was clinging to this cupboard next to my desk. I thought it was going to be fine, but it got worse and worse, and went on for so long. It's the worst one I've felt."

She walked outside to nearby Lichfield St and saw a car flattened by a fallen section of building.

"I'm normally pretty calm with things like this but when I saw a huge concrete slab on top of that car ...

"It's squashed down to zero. You never think you'll see anything like that."

Everyone was screaming as they left the store.

A colleague of Miss Bloomberg's walked outside to Cashel St mall and saw people lying on the ground who she thought had been hit by falling rubble from a nearby cafe.

Kay Cowlishaw said there was destruction everywhere.

"There's just water pouring out and sewerage, the whole garage is filled with water. There are cracks in the road.

Sally Blundell lives in Opawa and said their whole house shifted on its piles.

"We have no water, no power. We are really shaken. Most of us do not know what has happened to the inner city. We are just hearing reports on the radio and it sounds really frightening. The ground is still like jelly, a low level shake all the time."

Malcolm, a policeman from Darfield, was driving in the city when the earthquake hit.

"I thought I had a flat tyre, then the place was shaking like hell."
He said oak trees in the Hagley Park had been uprooted and fallen across tents.

"I'm shaken, I'm at Christ College now and the school is a shambles - there's a lot of damage to the buildings.

"All of the water pipes are burst and it looks like a tsunami coming across the park."

"It's just unbelievable - just the sheer power."

His daughter was at Rangi Ruru school and she said students were running around screaming.

HOSPITAL INUNDATED WITH WOUNDED

A patient in Christchurch Hospital, who was in the riverside block when the first quake hit, said things were falling down and some elderly people were injured in the stairs.
"It was just a lot of panic. The nurses and doctors were quite calm but I think just like the first time, it was all quiet, then all of a sudden there was panic."

Christchurch Hospital is operational but people are being asked to keep the Emergency Department for major casualties only.
The hospital, along with most other hospitals in the region has suffered infrastructure damage, a Health Ministry statement said.

A generator has been brought in to maintain power supply at Christchurch Hospital Riverside Block. "If power is not fully restored this evening patients at Christchurch Hospital's Riverside Block may need to be evacuated."

Large volumes of patients are being triaged through the Christchurch Hospital ED, many with serious injuries. Patients with non-life threatening injuries are being assessed and treated in Christchurch Women's Hospital and the Outpatients Department. Patients from the top two floors of Christchurch Hospital have been evacuated to lower floors. There is some water damage throughout the hospital but staff are awaiting further assessments.

St John district commander Tony Dowell said they had been seeing a range of injuries from serious to minor.
Mostly of the injuries were from crushing. St John was mobilising resources from West Coast, Dunedin, Nelson and South Canterbury.

What a tragic earthquake. On a personal level I have contacted all my relatives and friends in Christchurch, and they are well. I am trying to contact my good friend Ed Cotter, veteran mountaineers, who climbed with sir Ed Hillary. Ed is 82 and lives on the cliffs overlooking Sumner. My daughter Ruia is trying to contact him. If you have come across Ed Cotter, please let me know.

Thanks. And may God bless those who are trapped and please rescue them, and may he comfort those who have lost loved ones.

Thanks to stuff nz.co and New Zealand Red Cross for use of material off their websites.

Mark Bascand from Glacier Explorers shows passengers one of the many icebergs that calved into Tasman Lake in the Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, because of Tuesday's earthquake.

Earthquake causes glacier to calve


Glacier watchers on the Tasman Lake had an experience of a lifetime yesterday.


Two guides and 16 passengers were on two boats on the lake when the 6.3 magnitude Canterbury earthquake hit, triggering tsunamis and causing a massive ice calving off the glacier.

Aoraki-Mt Cook Alpine Village Ltd general manager tourism Denis Callesen said the guides were radioed from the village as soon as the earthquake was felt, so were able to prepare for the event.

Mr Callesen said the boats endured 30 minutes of tsunamis, up to 3.5 metres high.

Staff are trained for the event, knowing to turn the boats towards each tsunami and motor gently forwards.

About 30 million tonnes of ice calved – 1200 metres across the face, 30 metres above the lake and more than 250 metres below the surface to the bottom of the lake and back for about 75 metres.

Mr Callesen said it was either the third biggest, or second-equal biggest event in Tasman Lake's history.