The magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred at 4.36am local time Saturday 4 September, while most people were asleep in their homes.

The result was extensive building damage in New Zealand’s second largest city, Christchurch, with only two people seriously hurt and no one reported trapped or missing.

AREC Deputy Director, Geoff Chapman ZL3PX who lives in Christchurch, said that while AREC was at the Civil Defence Headquarters, there has been no requirement for it to pass any emergency traffic.

That is due to restoration of telephone and power to the majority of the affected areas. While water and sewerage systems have been affected there has been no reported major loss of roads or bridges.

However AREC is ready, as the situation could worsen with the weather bureau issuing a warning of very strong winds with gusts up to 130km/h and heavy rain posing new threats to already damaged buildings.

Adding to the danger are numerous aftershocks with authorities advising that these will continue for many days or weeks.

The ‘quake is New Zealand’s most damaging since the one which hit Napier (Hawke’s Bay) in February 1931, that saw radio amateurs extensively provide emergency communications.

That led to the formation by the IARU national radio society, the New Zealand Amateur Radio Transmitters (NZART) of what is today known as AREC.

Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman, IARU Region 3, Disaster Communications Committee.

he official toll following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Qinghai province in north west China as at 10am local time 18 April is 1706 deaths and 12,128 people injured. Local authorities estimate that up to 90 percent of buildings collapsed.

The Chinese Radio Sports Association (CRSA) reports that amateur radio rescue teams from An Hui, Qinghai, Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu, Sichuan provinces have joined the disaster mitigation efforts.

The rescue and recovery efforts following the quake that occurred on 14 April are difficult in the area which is a mountainous plateau more than 4,000 metres above sea level that experiences with very low overnight temperatures.

The amateur radio teams have set up VHF and UHF repeaters to provide quick support communications, 7050kHz and 7060kHz are their main HF QRGs, and sometimes 14270kHz in 20 meter band has been used.

The CRSA is borrowing from its experiences gained in the Great Sichuan earthquake of two years ago. To a avoid traffic jam travelling to the earthquake centre area, the ham radio and other support teams are following the instructions set by the government.

While commercial communications recovered on 15 April in six counties of Yushu district, emergency amateur radio communications teams are continuing to assist the disaster mitigation.

The CRSA thanks those IARU member societies such KARL, JARL, MARTS and HARTS and others who have given their support by translating Qinghai earthquake reports for their local websites and for all in helping keep the emergency frequencies clear.

(Report provided by Fan Bin BA1RB, CRSA Coordinator IARU Region 3. Disaster Communications Committee and Chairman Jim Linton VK3PC)

As parts of earthquake-hit Chile again this week were shaken by severe aftershocks there has been further news of the role of radio amateurs, including them being a highly sought after reliable source of information.

A television news report describes them as a collection of dedicated ham radio operators scattered across the country, proving to be an information lifeline during the recent devastating earthquake, tsunami and its aftermath.

Interviewed was RCCH Secretary Alejandro Jara CE3JWF and Director of SER (Servicio de Emergencia de Radioaficionados) Rafael Riesco CE3FFR, the Spanish language report, translated to English said “They were on air within 10 to 15 minutes of the quake – where possible. ”

“While telephones and the internet largely failed, many of the radio operators have back-up power and were able to provide vital lines of communication, picked up by National Radio Chile and rebroadcast, giving status of various affected areas.”

The report added that, “Even where internet still worked, gossip social networking pages could not be trusted, exaggerating and getting things wrong.”

“Ham radio operators of the Radio Club of Chile are more honourable, dedicating many hours of their lives to their radio networks and broadcasting, in some cases, from damaged equipment, even after the collapse of antennas. Thanks to them – Save Chile in a crisis!”

“The ham operator callsign enabled national radio and authorities to trust the information as members of the club have ‘honorable’ status, a great asset in a crisis where messages can get distorted through normal communiciation channels, if available.”

The report went further to say “Claims that ham radio is dying were put to rest as these operators provided such vital communication links, and the operators are voluntary and definitely don’t want to be paid.”

When the massive earthquake struck early February 27, the Red Chilena Nor Austral de Servicios (RECNA) and RCCH networks worked in coordination with the army handling information about locating missing persons, condition of roads and support for the emergency administration.

The magnitude-8.8 earthquake resulted in more than 720 deaths, 1.5 million destroyed homes along with damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

The RCCH has expressed its thanks to the world’s radio amateurs for keeping emergency frequencies free during their nation’s time of need. All previously announced HF frequencies are not currently required for emergency communications.

(Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman, IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee)

Dr. Cesar Pio Santos, HR2P, IARU Region 2 Emergency Coordinator has release the use of the emergency frecuencies based on information received from Dr. Dino Besomi, CE3PG,President of Radio Club de Chile.

We thank the world radio amateur community for their support in keeping emergency frequencies clear during the past days.

The following information has been relayed from Dr. Galdino Besomi,
CE3PG, President of the Radio Club de Chile (RCCH) by Jorge Sierra,
LU1AS, Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator of Area G in IARU Region 2.
The situation in Chile is very complex due to continuing aftershocks in
the area. RECNA and RCCH networks are working in coordination with the Army of Chile handling information about locating missing persons, condition of roads and support for the emergency administration.

The frequencies that must be kept clear are:

40 meters: 7050, 7095
80 meters: 3738
20 meters: 14200

Other frequencies could be in use, especially in 40 meters. Before using
any frequency it`s very important to make sure it`s free.

The following is a summary of the information received from Reinaldo Leandro President of IARU Region 2 and Jorge Sierra, LU1AS who is the Region 2 Area co-ordinator covering Chile.

Reinaldo talked by phone with Doctor Galdino Besomi CE3PG Radio Club de Chile (RCCH) president.

After the earthquake struck, an Emergency Net was activated across the whole country, first on VHF and then in HF. All the board of the Chile National Society and local club members are actively working in close coordination with civil and military authorities.

Three days after the earthquake the request for news about people in the affected countryside areas is one the main activity occupying the radio amateurs.

Jorge confirms that there are several frequencies in 40 meters receiving traffic to try and locate people from stations in Chile and Argentina.

They most activity is on 7050, 7060, 7088, 7095 and others and stations are monitoring these frequencies.

Almost all the traffic heard is related to locating people, but it is not easy to find them because the situation in the small towns near Santiago is very difficult, they don`t have electricity, telephone lines or cell phones; emergency communications stations are running on batteries.

As you may have seen on news broadcasts, the airport at Santiago is again operative but with some restrictions. The government asked other countries in the region not to send help until they could review the situation and ask for their exact needs.

The Tsunami warnings for the Pacific Ocean have been lifted. There was a Tsunami with waves from 1-2m which crossed the Ocean to Japan. Measured wave heights can be seen at
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2010.02.28.093706.txt

Information received from Jorge,LU1AS confirms the request to keep the following frequencies clear in the area;
3738, 3750, 7050, 7060, 7095, 14200, 14300 and 14350kHz.

I hope to have more information later today.

An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale hit Chile at 0634UTC today (27th February).

I am now receiving information that the local emergency communications group “Red Chilena Nor Austral de Servicio (RECNA)” is active and some emergency communications activities are taking place, mostly with Argentina. Jorge Sierra, LU1AS who is the IARU-R2 Area Emergency Co-Ordinator is asking that the following frequencies are kept clear;

7095, RECNA Control Station
Emergency Traffic has also been heard on 7050, 7060 and 7095 with stations trying to contact Chile seeking information about people.

Chile is also known to use the following frequencies for emergency communication;
3750, 3738, 7050, 7095, 14200, 14350, 21200, 21350, 28300, 28500kHz.

Since a Tsunami warning is in effect for some countries in the Pacific it would also be useful to keep IARU Region 2 and Region 3 Centre of Activity frequencies clear in case other countries become involved, these are;

Region 2 3750, 3785, 7060, 7240, 7290, 14300, 18160, 21360
Region 3 3600, 7110, 14300, 18160, 21360

Japanese state broadcaster NHK is indicating that if a Tsunami was to affect that country it would hit about 22 hours after the initial earthquake. Australia has issues Tsunami warnings for parts of their country. We should know soon if a wide area tsunami has been created, a prediction of arrival times can be found at
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2010.02.27.154316.txt
Check the main site of http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/ for updates.