Christchurch, New Zealand

At 12:51pm on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 disaster struck 10 Kilometers South-East of Christchurch, the 2nd most populated city in New Zealand causing destruction throughout the city. Following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake many countries and organizations leaped into action by sending humanitarian aid and rescue workers into the region to help the destroyed area. Many buildings already had been weakened by the September 4, 2010 earthquake that measured 7.1 magnitudes on the Richter scale. One of the buildings destroyed was the Christchurch cathedral one of the oldest churches in New Zealand, the building had already been weakened by the September earthquake and the spire collapsed. A lot of the church was damaged. It is not known if the church can be rebuilt on the present site because of structural damage. Altogether the quake produced 181 fatalities and about 2000 injuries. As a result this earthquake is the second-deadliest Natural disaster in New Zealand history. An estimation of the cost to rebuild damaged areas is about U.S. $11.5-12 Billion dollars making it one of the costliest natural disaster in New Zealand history. From February 22nd, 2011 to April 30th, 2011 the New Zealand government declared the situation a state of national emergency.