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120-458: Search and rescue ( SAR ) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search is conducted over. These include mountain rescue ; ground search and rescue, including the use of search and rescue dogs (such as K9 units ); urban search and rescue in cities; combat search and rescue on

240-585: A physician and a rescue swimmer . The Estonian Border Guard (Piirivalve) is the Estonian security authority responsible for the border security. It is the main support organisation for search and rescue missions in Estonia, and operates a small fleet of SAR vessels and helicopters. In Finland local rescue services (i.e. fire departments) are responsible for land and inland water SAR, the Border Guard

360-726: A 24/7 basis at Holzdorf Air Base with the Airbus H145 LUH SAR (Light Utility Helikopter Search and Rescue) and at Nörvenich Air Base and 2 at Niederstetten Army Airfield. Further, the Technisches Hilfswerk is a key component of the German disaster relief framework. It is, among other things, regularly involved in urban search and rescue efforts abroad. SAR operations are conducted by the Government Flying Service (GFS) and before 1993 by

480-571: A depth of less than 70 km (43 mi) are classified as "shallow-focus" earthquakes, while those with a focal depth between 70 and 300 km (43 and 186 mi) are commonly termed "mid-focus" or "intermediate-depth" earthquakes. In subduction zones, where older and colder oceanic crust descends beneath another tectonic plate, deep-focus earthquakes may occur at much greater depths (ranging from 300 to 700 km (190 to 430 mi)). These seismically active areas of subduction are known as Wadati–Benioff zones . Deep-focus earthquakes occur at

600-488: A depth where the subducted lithosphere should no longer be brittle, due to the high temperature and pressure. A possible mechanism for the generation of deep-focus earthquakes is faulting caused by olivine undergoing a phase transition into a spinel structure. Earthquakes often occur in volcanic regions and are caused there, both by tectonic faults and the movement of magma in volcanoes . Such earthquakes can serve as an early warning of volcanic eruptions, as during

720-475: A few exceptions to this: Supershear earthquake ruptures are known to have propagated at speeds greater than the S wave velocity. These have so far all been observed during large strike-slip events. The unusually wide zone of damage caused by the 2001 Kunlun earthquake has been attributed to the effects of the sonic boom developed in such earthquakes. Slow earthquake ruptures travel at unusually low velocities. A particularly dangerous form of slow earthquake

840-613: A helicopter. The team consists of experienced climbers and rescuers. Works are conducted on a mountain relief of any complexity, at any heights and routes. The organization has been accredited in Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic and has the right to conduct rescue operations. Mountain rescues at high elevations in Pakistan are usually carried out by

960-521: A high demand such as the Alps , national parks with mountain terrain and many ski resorts . However, the labor-intensive and occasional nature of mountain rescue, along with the specific techniques and local knowledge required for some environments, means that mountain rescue is often undertaken by voluntary teams. These are frequently made up of local climbers and guides. Often paid rescue services may work in co-operation with voluntary services. For instance,

1080-401: A location where they cannot be found or, less commonly, due to abduction . Ground search and rescue missions that occur in urban areas should not be confused with "urban search and rescue", which in many jurisdictions refers to the location and extraction of people from collapsed buildings or other entrapments. In some countries, the police are the primary agency for carrying out searches for

1200-518: A missing person on land. Some places have voluntary search and rescue teams that can be called out to assist these searches. Search and rescue agencies may contain small specialist teams for executing operations where there are specific environmental risks. Examples include swift water rescue, flood response, technical rope rescue, confined space rescue, over-snow rescue, and thin ice rescue. Mountain rescue relates to search and rescue operations specifically in rugged and mountainous terrain. Cave rescue

1320-406: A paid helicopter rescue team may work with a volunteer mountain rescue team on the ground. Mountain rescue is often free, although in some parts of the world rescue organizations may charge for their services. But there are also exceptions, e.g. Switzerland , where mountain rescue is highly expensive (some 2,000 to US$ 4,000) and will be charged to the patient. In more remote or less-developed parts of

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1440-458: A particular location in the Earth is the average rate of seismic energy release per unit volume. In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes can occur naturally or be induced by human activities, such as mining , fracking , and nuclear tests . The initial point of rupture is called the hypocenter or focus, while

1560-560: A particular location in the Earth is the average rate of seismic energy release per unit volume. One of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history was the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake , which occurred on 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi , China. More than 830,000 people died. Most houses in the area were yaodongs —dwellings carved out of loess hillsides—and many victims were killed when these structures collapsed. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake , which killed between 240,000 and 655,000 people,

1680-765: A single rupture) are approximately 1,000 km (620 mi). Examples are the earthquakes in Alaska (1957) , Chile (1960) , and Sumatra (2004) , all in subduction zones. The longest earthquake ruptures on strike-slip faults, like the San Andreas Fault ( 1857 , 1906 ), the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey ( 1939 ), and the Denali Fault in Alaska ( 2002 ), are about half to one third as long as

1800-584: Is a highly specialised form of rescue for rescuing injured, trapped or lost cave explorers. Urban search and rescue (US&R or USAR), also referred to as Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR), is the location and rescue of persons from collapsed buildings or other urban and industrial entrapments. Due to the specialised nature of the work, most teams are multi-disciplinary and include personnel from police, fire and emergency medical services. Unlike traditional ground search and rescue workers, most US&R responders also have basic training in structural collapse and

1920-525: Is a theory that earthquakes can recur in a regular pattern. Earthquake clustering has been observed, for example, in Parkfield, California where a long-term research study is being conducted around the Parkfield earthquake cluster. An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the mainshock. Rapid changes of stress between rocks, and the stress from the original earthquake are

2040-433: Is carried out at sea to save sailors and passengers in distress, or the survivors of downed aircraft. The type of agency which carries out maritime search and rescue varies by country; it may variously be the coast guard , navy or voluntary organisations. When a distressed or missing vessel is located, these organisations deploy helicopters, rescue vessels or any other appropriate vessel to return them to land. In some cases,

2160-918: Is conducted by the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service with air support by the German Navy , the Federal Police and the German Army Aviation . All incoming requests are coordinated by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Bremen . The DGzRS is a non-governmental organisation entirely supported by donations. Besides the offshore Search And Rescue services, the German Army Aviation provides 3 SAR Command Posts on

2280-524: Is converted into heat generated by friction. Therefore, earthquakes lower the Earth's available elastic potential energy and raise its temperature, though these changes are negligible compared to the conductive and convective flow of heat out from the Earth's deep interior. There are three main types of fault, all of which may cause an interplate earthquake : normal, reverse (thrust), and strike-slip. Normal and reverse faulting are examples of dip-slip, where

2400-400: Is divided into 754 Flinn–Engdahl regions (F-E regions), which are based on political and geographical boundaries as well as seismic activity. More active zones are divided into smaller F-E regions whereas less active zones belong to larger F-E regions. Standard reporting of earthquakes includes its magnitude , date and time of occurrence, geographic coordinates of its epicenter , depth of

2520-791: Is identical to the Nicosia FIR ), in order to find and rescue people whose lives are at risk, as a result of an air or naval accident, in the least possible time. This is achieved by coordinating all the different agencies involved such as the Cyprus Police Aviation Unit, the Cyprus Port and Naval Police , the Cyprus National Guard Naval Command , the Cyprus National Guard Air Force Command ,

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2640-654: Is influenced by tectonic movements along faults, including normal, reverse (thrust), and strike-slip faults, with energy release and rupture dynamics governed by the elastic-rebound theory . Efforts to manage earthquake risks involve prediction, forecasting, and preparedness, including seismic retrofitting and earthquake engineering to design structures that withstand shaking. The cultural impact of earthquakes spans myths, religious beliefs, and modern media, reflecting their profound influence on human societies. Similar seismic phenomena, known as marsquakes and moonquakes , have been observed on other celestial bodies, indicating

2760-798: Is organised by the Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC Larnaca). The JRCC (Greek: Κέντρο Συντονισμού Έρευνας και Διάσωσης) is an independent agency of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus that started its operations on a 24h basis on 7 August 1995 as a unit of the Cyprus Air Force Command . On 1 March 2002, the JRCC took full responsibility for investigating, organising, coordinating and executing every SAR incident-operation in

2880-545: Is probably a statistical fluctuation rather than a systematic trend. More detailed statistics on the size and frequency of earthquakes is available from the United States Geological Survey. A recent increase in the number of major earthquakes has been noted, which could be explained by a cyclical pattern of periods of intense tectonic activity, interspersed with longer periods of low intensity. However, accurate recordings of earthquakes only began in

3000-423: Is proportional to the area of the fault that ruptures and the stress drop. Therefore, the longer the length and the wider the width of the faulted area, the larger the resulting magnitude. The most important parameter controlling the maximum earthquake magnitude on a fault, however, is not the maximum available length, but the available width because the latter varies by a factor of 20. Along converging plate margins,

3120-820: Is provided by three authorities; the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the State/Territory Police Jurisdictions. In a very broad sense, the JRCC respond to national and international registered aircraft, off shore marine incidents and beacon activations. The ADF are responsible for Australian and foreign military personnel, vehicles, vessels and aircraft while within

3240-854: Is responsible for maritime areas. These organisations alert and decide on the most suitable response for the location and situation. The country also has several volunteer organisations such as the volunteer fire department (VPK), the Finnish Lifeboat Institution (SMPS) and the Red Cross Finland (SPR). The Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM) provides sea rescue on the French coast and at seas. In 2016, they helped 7,500 people in 5,200 rescues. The service has 41 all-weather rescue boats, 34 first-class rescue boats and 76 second-class lifeboats. In France, Search and rescue operations are led by different entities according to

3360-696: Is responsible for rescue operations in the hills and hiking trails of Hong Kong . As of 2014 the Company has 13 officers and 128 members. The unit works alongside the Government Flying Service in the air and Hong Kong Fire Services on the ground. Besides rescue operations, MSaR also help promote mountaineering safety. Mountain rescue services in Ireland operate under the umbrella association of Mountain Rescue Ireland ( Cumann Tarrthála Sléibhte na h-Éireann ). Mountain Rescue Ireland covers areas across

3480-410: Is the tsunami earthquake , observed where the relatively low felt intensities, caused by the slow propagation speed of some great earthquakes, fail to alert the population of the neighboring coast, as in the 1896 Sanriku earthquake . During an earthquake, high temperatures can develop at the fault plane, increasing pore pressure and consequently vaporization of the groundwater already contained within

3600-815: Is the framework document that funds international SAR activities. The Canadian Forces have five assigned SAR squadrons: Plus three Combat Support Squadrons with SAR roles: Some municipalities and provinces have their own SAR units: There are also volunteer non-profit associations that conduct SAR in Canada: In Croatia the SAR Service is part of the Croatian Navy and the Croatian Coast Guard with their headquarter in Rijeka . The Cyprus Republic Search and Rescue (SAR) system

3720-458: The 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile, the largest ever recorded at 9.5 magnitude. Earthquakes result in various effects, such as ground shaking and soil liquefaction , leading to significant damage and loss of life. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami . Earthquakes can trigger landslides . Earthquakes' occurrence

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3840-400: The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens . Earthquake swarms can serve as markers for the location of the flowing magma throughout the volcanoes. These swarms can be recorded by seismometers and tiltmeters (a device that measures ground slope) and used as sensors to predict imminent or upcoming eruptions. A tectonic earthquake begins as an area of initial slip on the fault surface that forms

3960-587: The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake is simultaneously one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. Earthquakes that caused the greatest loss of life, while powerful, were deadly because of their proximity to either heavily populated areas or the ocean, where earthquakes often create tsunamis that can devastate communities thousands of kilometers away. Regions most at risk for great loss of life include those where earthquakes are relatively rare but powerful, and poor regions with lax, unenforced, or nonexistent seismic building codes. Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere on

4080-593: The Cospas-Sarsat distress beacon detection system. The JRCC's jurisdiction spans Australia and as well as covering 52.8 million square kilometres of the Indian , Pacific and Southern Oceans constituting about 11% of the Earth's surface. The JRCC is staffed by SAR specialists who have a naval, merchant marine , air force, civil aviation or police service background. The JRCC also coordinates medical evacuations, broadcasts maritime safety information and operates

4200-996: The Cyprus Civil Defence and other secondary units. The JRCC reports directly to the operational control of the Ministry of Defence and it is staffed by qualified personnel of the Cyprus National Guard , mainly from the branches of the Navy and the Air Force . There are also search and rescue teams in Northern Cyprus . Search and rescue operators in Turkish Republic of North Cyprus are primarily: Military Search and rescue operators in Denmark are primarily: Danish air force Squadron 722, Danish navy air squadron , naval home guard and

4320-826: The Danish Maritime Safety Administration , coordinated by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, operated by the navy and air force in the Danish Naval Commands facilities near Aarhus . Internationally the Danish works mainly with Germany , Norway and Sweden . With the two latter, the annual exercises Baltic SAREX and Scan-SAR are conducted. SAR services in Denmark started in 1957 with seven Sikorsky S-55s . Their piston engines produced only 550 hp (410 kW) and they had limited fuel capacity, so their operational range

4440-499: The Himalayan Mountains . With the rapid growth of mega-cities such as Mexico City, Tokyo, and Tehran in areas of high seismic risk , some seismologists are warning that a single earthquake may claim the lives of up to three million people. While most earthquakes are caused by the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates , human activity can also produce earthquakes. Activities both above ground and below may change

4560-762: The NSW SES Bush Search and Rescue in New South Wales and Bush Search and Rescue Victoria in Victoria . These state-based groups draw searchers from bushwalking, mountaineering and specialist rescue clubs within their State. A few groups respond on horseback as mounted search and rescue . The State Emergency Service is a collection of volunteer-based emergency organisations established in each state or territory which are responsible for many rescue efforts in urban and rural areas and in any rescue that results from flood or storm activity. In rural areas

4680-518: The National Incident Management System , mountain rescue unit qualifications are standardized for those units which choose to be deployable for national disasters and national mutual aid outside their jurisdiction. Earthquake An earthquake  – also called a quake , tremor , or temblor  – is the shaking of the Earth 's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in

4800-851: The North Sea are executed by the Belgian Air Component . From its Koksijde Air Base it operates NH-90 helicopters. Search and rescue duties in Brazil are the responsibility of the Salvarmar Brasil (MRCC Brazil), of the Brazilian Navy and Divisão de Busca e Salvamento (D-SAR) (English: Search and Rescue Division), of the Brazilian Air Force . Air and marine Search and rescue duties in Canada are

4920-565: The Pakistan Army Aviation Corps . On July 30, 2018, a Russian climber was rescued from Latok Peak at an elevation of 20,650 feet, a record for the highest mountain rescue in Pakistan. The Mountain Rescue Service ( Horská záchranná služba , HZS) of Slovakia is a civilian agency that provides nationwide mountain rescue operations and search and rescue operations in difficult terrains in close cooperation with

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5040-592: The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS). In the United States, mountain search and rescue is a technical specialty within general search and rescue. It is handled by 'career, on-duty and on-call paid' teams within the national parks, and supplemented by other paid and volunteer assets/resources as needed. For areas outside the national parks, there are approximately 20 agencies, mostly sheriff's departments, in

5160-757: The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force . The GFS conducts maritime SAR within the 400-nautical-mile (740 km) radius of the Hong Kong Flight Information Region (FIR). As of 2020, the GFS fleet consists of nine aircraft including: Other civilian search and rescue units in Hong Kong include: Mountain rescue Mountain rescue services may be paid professionals or volunteer professionals. Paid rescue services are more likely to exist in places with

5280-754: The United Kingdom , mountain rescue is a free service, provided by volunteers. Each team is an independent charity, and are linked together by regional organizations and national bodies. In England and Wales this is Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW) and in Scotland, Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland , now known as Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR). Prince William is the patron of MREW. Mountain rescue services are also provided by

5400-426: The brittle-ductile transition zone and upwards by the ground surface. The mechanics of this process are poorly understood because it is difficult either to recreate such rapid movements in a laboratory or to record seismic waves close to a nucleation zone due to strong ground motion. In most cases, the rupture speed approaches, but does not exceed, the shear wave (S wave) velocity of the surrounding rock. There are

5520-413: The least principal stress. Strike-slip faulting is intermediate between the other two types described above. This difference in stress regime in the three faulting environments can contribute to differences in stress drop during faulting, which contributes to differences in the radiated energy, regardless of fault dimensions. For every unit increase in magnitude, there is a roughly thirty-fold increase in

5640-406: The lithosphere that creates seismic waves . Earthquakes can range in intensity , from those so weak they cannot be felt, to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the air, damage critical infrastructure, and wreak destruction across entire cities. The seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced over a particular time. The seismicity at

5760-553: The 20th century and has been inferred for older anomalous clusters of large earthquakes in the Middle East. It is estimated that around 500,000 earthquakes occur each year, detectable with current instrumentation. About 100,000 of these can be felt. Minor earthquakes occur very frequently around the world in places like California and Alaska in the U.S., as well as in El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Indonesia,

5880-433: The 21st century. Seismic waves travel through the Earth's interior and can be recorded by seismometers at great distances. The surface-wave magnitude was developed in the 1950s as a means to measure remote earthquakes and to improve the accuracy for larger events. The moment magnitude scale not only measures the amplitude of the shock but also takes into account the seismic moment (total rupture area, average slip of

6000-590: The Air Rescue Service and Police of the Czech Republic. It is a part of the integrated rescue system in the Czech Republic and can be reached under the phone number 1210 (paid number) or under 112 - EU standard integrated emergency service. The Gendarmerie Nationale and the Police nationale are in charge of mountain rescuing. Being a paramilitary police force with law-enforcement assignments,

6120-526: The Air Rescue Service. It is a part of the integrated rescue system in Slovakia and can be reached under the phone number 18300 or under 112 - EU standard integrated emergency service. Since 1981 the Guardia Civil 's Search and Rescue Group ( Grupo de Rescate e Intervención en Montaña-GREIM ) has been responsible for mountain rescue in all of Spain except for Catalonia. Before 1981 mountain rescue

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6240-431: The Australian SRR. Police are responsible for coastal marine incidents, lost persons, unregistered aircraft, inland waterways, ports and identified beacons. The JRCC operates a 24-hour Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) in Canberra and is responsible for the national coordination of both maritime and aviation search and rescue. The JRCC is also responsible for the management and operation of the Australian ground segment of

6360-424: The Australian Ship Reporting System (AUSREP). In coordinating search and rescue missions, the JRCC will call on assistance from organisations as appropriate, such as the Defence forces, Border Protection Command , trained aviation organisations (Civil SAR Units), emergency medical helicopters, state Police services and trained Air Observers from the State Emergency Service . There are also other organisations, such as

6480-400: The Austrian Mountain Rescue Service was (re)founded as Österreichischer Bergrettungsdienst. Due to its mountainous terrain, following the Second World War, Bosnia and Herzegovina saw a need for the development and organization of a modern-day equivalent of the mountain rescue service. The first mountain rescue "station", which consisted of professionally trained and semi-professional volunteers

6600-399: The Earth's core was located in 1913 by Beno Gutenberg . S waves and later arriving surface waves do most of the damage compared to P waves. P waves squeeze and expand the material in the same direction they are traveling, whereas S waves shake the ground up and down and back and forth. Earthquakes are not only categorized by their magnitude but also by the place where they occur. The world

6720-437: The Earth. Also, the depth of the hypocenter can be computed roughly. P wave speed S waves speed As a consequence, the first waves of a distant earthquake arrive at an observatory via the Earth's mantle. On average, the kilometer distance to the earthquake is the number of seconds between the P- and S wave times 8. Slight deviations are caused by inhomogeneities of subsurface structure. By such analysis of seismograms,

6840-800: The FEMA NIMS national mutual aid deployment system. Parks with paid teams include Denali National Park , Yosemite National Park , Grand Teton National Park , and Mount Rainier National Park . Many paid and volunteer professional mountain SAR teams are part of the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) and operate under the authority of the local sheriff's department (approximately 42 of the 50 states) or state police or emergency management agency. Member teams are required to regularly reaccredit in three disciplines: technical rope rescue, snow and ice rescue operations, and search management/tracking. While teams are primarily responsible to operate in one county which could be from 50 square miles to 20,000 square miles, they typically respond to adjoining counties and states. Under

6960-445: The Medical Air Rescue Service 118 , with Meteomont army team and Police of Italy under the phone number 112 - EU standard integrated emergency service. The main missions are search and rescue, avalanche response, first aid, surveillance of mountain areas, prevention of accidents, and public safety. Rescue service in mountains of Kyrgyzstan is a non commercial specialized organization. Rescue teams use modern rescue equipment and

7080-405: The Philippines, Iran, Pakistan, the Azores in Portugal, Turkey, New Zealand, Greece, Italy, India, Nepal, and Japan. Larger earthquakes occur less frequently, the relationship being exponential ; for example, roughly ten times as many earthquakes larger than magnitude 4 occur than earthquakes larger than magnitude 5. In the (low seismicity) United Kingdom, for example, it has been calculated that

7200-531: The Republic of Cyprus Search & Rescue Region (SRR). JRCC Larnaca operated as a military unit until 26 July 2010, when JRCC was transformed to an independent agency under the Ministry of Defence with the Minister being responsible for its operational aspects. Logistic and technical support is the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications & Works. Its primary mission is to organise the Cyprus Republic Search And Rescue system, to co-ordinate, control and direct SAR operations in its area of responsibility (which

7320-415: The SES conducts most bush search, vertical and road traffic rescues. In urban areas they assist the police and fire services with USAR. Search and rescue operations in Azerbaijan are managed by the Ministry of Emergency Situations onshore in cooperation with the State Civil Aviation Administration in air and the State Maritime Administration offshore. Search and rescue duties along the Belgian part of

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7440-533: The U.S. which provide paid or career members of a mountain SAR team. Most of those supplement with volunteer professionals. The bulk of mountain SAR operations in the U.S. are provided by 'volunteer professional' teams (are not career positions or paid but must meet minimum industry-accepted standards at or above their paid counterparts), who may also respond via mutual aid or automatic aid to incidents out-of-county, out-of-state and into national parks, via intrastate, interstate, and national park agreements, as well as via

7560-505: The agencies may carry out an air-sea rescue (ASR). This refers to the combined use of aircraft (such as flying boats , floatplanes , amphibious helicopters and non-amphibious helicopters equipped with hoists) and surface vessels. Another type of Maritime search and rescue is Submarine rescue . The International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention) is the legal framework that applies to international maritime and air-sea rescue. The Australian search and rescue service

7680-404: The average recurrences are: an earthquake of 3.7–4.6 every year, an earthquake of 4.7–5.5 every 10 years, and an earthquake of 5.6 or larger every 100 years. This is an example of the Gutenberg–Richter law . The number of seismic stations has increased from about 350 in 1931 to many thousands today. As a result, many more earthquakes are reported than in the past, but this is because of

7800-428: The battlefield and air-sea rescue over water. International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) is a UN organisation that promotes the exchange of information between national urban search and rescue organisations. The duty to render assistance is covered by Article 98 of the UNCLOS . There are many different definitions of search and rescue, depending on the agency involved and country in question. One of

7920-404: The brittle crust. Thus, earthquakes with magnitudes much larger than 8 are not possible. In addition, there exists a hierarchy of stress levels in the three fault types. Thrust faults are generated by the highest, strike-slip by intermediate, and normal faults by the lowest stress levels. This can easily be understood by considering the direction of the greatest principal stress, the direction of

8040-452: The cause of other earthquakes in the past century. A Columbia University paper suggested that the 8.0 magnitude 2008 Sichuan earthquake was induced by loading from the Zipingpu Dam , though the link has not been conclusively proved. The instrumental scales used to describe the size of an earthquake began with the Richter scale in the 1930s. It is a relatively simple measurement of an event's amplitude, and its use has become minimal in

8160-411: The cockpit, using an experimental hoist developed jointly by Sikorsky and Breeze . All five crew members of an oil barge, which had run aground on Penfield Reef , were saved before the barge sank. In 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 with 269 occupants was shot down by a Soviet aircraft near Sakhalin . The Soviets sent SAR helicopters and boats to Soviet waters, while a search and rescue operation

8280-471: The dangers associated with live electrical wires, broken natural gas lines and other hazards. While earthquakes have traditionally been the cause of US&R operations, terrorist attacks and extreme weather such as tornadoes and hurricanes have also resulted in the deployment of these resources. Combat search and rescue (CSAR) is search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones. Maritime search and rescue

8400-420: The demand for a mountain rescue service. At first, the M.R.U. had two separate command centres, one in Hong Kong Island, and the other in the Kowloon Peninsula. The two command centres merged in 1972 to a single centre based at the Civil Aid Service headquarters in Kowloon. In 2005, the M.R.U. was renamed the "Mountain Search and Rescue Company" (MSaR). The Mountain Search and Rescue Company of the Civil Aid Service

8520-427: The dip angle of the rupture plane is very shallow, typically about 10 degrees. Thus, the width of the plane within the top brittle crust of the Earth can reach 50–100 km (31–62 mi) (such as in Japan, 2011 , or in Alaska, 1964 ), making the most powerful earthquakes possible. The majority of tectonic earthquakes originate in the Ring of Fire at depths not exceeding tens of kilometers. Earthquakes occurring at

8640-678: The displacement along the fault is in the direction of dip and where movement on them involves a vertical component. Many earthquakes are caused by movement on faults that have components of both dip-slip and strike-slip; this is known as oblique slip. The topmost, brittle part of the Earth's crust, and the cool slabs of the tectonic plates that are descending into the hot mantle, are the only parts of our planet that can store elastic energy and release it in fault ruptures. Rocks hotter than about 300 °C (572 °F) flow in response to stress; they do not rupture in earthquakes. The maximum observed lengths of ruptures and mapped faults (which may break in

8760-439: The distance from the earthquake and the underlying rock or soil makeup. The first scale for measuring earthquake magnitudes was developed by Charles Francis Richter in 1935. Subsequent scales ( seismic magnitude scales ) have retained a key feature, where each unit represents a ten-fold difference in the amplitude of the ground shaking and a 32-fold difference in energy. Subsequent scales are also adjusted to have approximately

8880-554: The early 1900s, so it is too early to categorically state that this is the case. Most of the world's earthquakes (90%, and 81% of the largest) take place in the 40,000-kilometre-long (25,000 mi), horseshoe-shaped zone called the circum-Pacific seismic belt, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire , which for the most part bounds the Pacific plate . Massive earthquakes tend to occur along other plate boundaries too, such as along

9000-403: The earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane . The sides of a fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the fault surface that increases the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities, which leads to a form of stick-slip behavior . Once

9120-426: The earthquakes strike a fault in clusters, each triggered by the shaking or stress redistribution of the previous earthquakes. Similar to aftershocks but on adjacent segments of fault, these storms occur over the course of years, with some of the later earthquakes as damaging as the early ones. Such a pattern was observed in the sequence of about a dozen earthquakes that struck the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey in

9240-504: The energy released. For instance, an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 releases approximately 32 times more energy than a 5.0 magnitude earthquake and a 7.0 magnitude earthquake releases 1,000 times more energy than a 5.0 magnitude earthquake. An 8.6-magnitude earthquake releases the same amount of energy as 10,000 atomic bombs of the size used in World War II . This is so because the energy released in an earthquake, and thus its magnitude,

9360-458: The fact that no single earthquake in the sequence is the main shock, so none has a notably higher magnitude than another. An example of an earthquake swarm is the 2004 activity at Yellowstone National Park . In August 2012, a swarm of earthquakes shook Southern California 's Imperial Valley , showing the most recorded activity in the area since the 1970s. Sometimes a series of earthquakes occur in what has been called an earthquake storm , where

9480-462: The fault has locked, continued relative motion between the plates leads to increasing stress and, therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of the fault, releasing the stored energy . This energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves , frictional heating of

9600-411: The fault plane that holds it in place, and fluids can exert a lubricating effect. As thermal overpressurization may provide positive feedback between slip and strength fall at the fault plane, a common opinion is that it may enhance the faulting process instability. After the mainshock, the pressure gradient between the fault plane and the neighboring rock causes a fluid flow that increases pore pressure in

9720-418: The fault surface, and cracking of the rock, thus causing an earthquake. This process of gradual build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as the elastic-rebound theory . It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or

9840-541: The fault, and rigidity of the rock). The Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale , the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale , and the Mercalli intensity scale are based on the observed effects and are related to the intensity of shaking. The shaking of the earth is a common phenomenon that has been experienced by humans from the earliest of times. Before the development of strong-motion accelerometers,

9960-591: The five mountain national parks of the Canadian Rockies , mountain rescue is solely the responsibility of Parks Canada 's visitor safety rescue specialists. Large areas in all Canadian national parks do not have reliable two-way radio or cellular coverage. The use of SOS, satellite phone or two-way communicating send devices like Garmin InReach or Spot is recommended. There is no charge to park visitors who require help as search and rescue costs are part of

10080-516: The flight to provide advanced treatment. The Swiss canton of Valais doesn't use Rega, they have their own rescue fleet, named Air Glacier and Air Zermatt. They have similar colours, procedures and personnel. The Swiss army is also used in frontline rescue of civilians. Their many mountain battalions are commonly used in collaboration with the Rega, due to their manpower, heavy equipment and proven experience of collaboration with civilian authorities. In

10200-417: The focus. Once the rupture has been initiated, it begins to propagate away from the focus, spreading out along the fault surface. Lateral propagation will continue until either the rupture reaches a barrier, such as the end of a fault segment, or a region on the fault where there is insufficient stress to allow continued rupture. For larger earthquakes, the depth extent of rupture will be constrained downwards by

10320-406: The force that "pushes" the rock mass during the faulting. In the case of normal faults, the rock mass is pushed down in a vertical direction, thus the pushing force ( greatest principal stress) equals the weight of the rock mass itself. In the case of thrusting, the rock mass "escapes" in the direction of the least principal stress, namely upward, lifting the rock mass, and thus, the overburden equals

10440-586: The gendarmerie has a wide variety of missions, mainly: The gendarmerie employs 260 gendarmes , divided in 20 units nationwide; 90 per cent of interventions are made by air. The police Compagnie républicaine de sécurité also provides mountain search and rescue in the French Alps and Pyrenees alongside the PGHM. The Civil Aid Service , Mountain Rescue Unit (M.R.U.) was established in 1967 due to

10560-493: The ground level directly above it is the epicenter . Earthquakes are primarily caused by geological faults , but also by volcanic activity , landslides, and other seismic events. The frequency, type, and size of earthquakes in an area define its seismic activity, reflecting the average rate of seismic energy release. Significant historical earthquakes include the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake in China, with over 830,000 fatalities, and

10680-744: The initial SAR effort, which was fruitless. In June 2014, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau commissioned the MV Fugro Equator to lead a three-month survey of the ocean bed. As of 2014, the search for Flight 370 had become the largest SAR to date. Ground search and rescue is the search for persons who are lost or in distress on land or inland waterways. People may go missing for a variety of reasons. Some may disappear voluntarily, due to issues like domestic abuse . Others disappear for involuntary reasons such as mental illness, getting lost, an accident, death in

10800-410: The intensity of a seismic event was estimated based on the observed effects. Magnitude and intensity are not directly related and calculated using different methods. The magnitude of an earthquake is a single value that describes the size of the earthquake at its source. Intensity is the measure of shaking at different locations around the earthquake. Intensity values vary from place to place, depending on

10920-757: The island of Ireland, both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland . Unit 669 " Airborne Combat Rescue And Evacuation Unit" is the Israel Defense Forces heliborne combat search and rescue extraction unit, subordinate to 7 Wing ( special forces ) of the Israeli Air Force . It is considered one of the four premier elite units of unit the IDF. The mandate of the unit is to rescue downed pilots and execute airborne medical evacuation of critical casualties. Due to its unique capabilities,

11040-476: The lengths along subducting plate margins, and those along normal faults are even shorter. Normal faults occur mainly in areas where the crust is being extended such as a divergent boundary . Earthquakes associated with normal faults are generally less than magnitude 7. Maximum magnitudes along many normal faults are even more limited because many of them are located along spreading centers, as in Iceland, where

11160-402: The main causes of these aftershocks, along with the crust around the ruptured fault plane as it adjusts to the effects of the mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region as the main shock but always of a smaller magnitude, however, they can still be powerful enough to cause even more damage to buildings that were already previously damaged from the mainshock. If an aftershock is larger than

11280-414: The mainshock, the aftershock is redesignated as the mainshock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock . Aftershocks are formed as the crust around the displaced fault plane adjusts to the effects of the mainshock. Earthquake swarms are sequences of earthquakes striking in a specific area within a short period. They are different from earthquakes followed by a series of aftershocks by

11400-531: The naval vessels at sea. The EH-101s operate from bases in Aalborg , Skrydstrup and Roskilde . When the sea water temperatures are low a helicopter is also deployed to the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea . The Lynx operates from Karup . Maritime vessels are spread out through the entire coastline and on islands. The S-61s and EH-101s have a crew of six: two pilots , a navigator , a flight engineer ,

11520-631: The non-profit Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service that is based at a number of sites around Australia and contracted by various authorities to deliver search and rescue services. State Police in many states operate state-based search and rescue squads, such as the Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad , which provides specialist expertise, advice and practical assistance in land search and rescue on most terrain including snow and vertical cliff search and rescue. There are also state-based volunteer search and rescue groups such as

11640-769: The provision of maritime SAR is assigned to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans by the Canada Shipping Act and the Canada Oceans Act . Ground and inland water search and rescue (GSAR) is the responsibility of provinces and territories with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and other police forces coordinating operations, often using volunteer GSAR teams operating in specific areas under provincial coordinating bodies. The Canada Shipping Act, most recently passed in 2001,

11760-681: The rescue are operated by Swiss Air-Rescue Rega ( German : Schweizerische Rettungsflugwacht , French : Garde aérienne suisse de sauvetage, Rega ), a non-profit organisation that provide alpine rescue with its fleet of 17 medical helicopters, including 11 Agusta A109 SP Grand "Da Vinci", used both in ground support of paramedical personnel and frontline alpine rescue. Swiss Air-Rescue Rega has two very distinctive characteristics: they can reach any place in Switzerland under 15 minutes, due to their ten bases, and they are medicalized. This means an emergency physician (mostly an anesthetist) will be on

11880-459: The rescue area. For sea rescue, the French navy use airborne unit (e.g. Flottille 33F in Brittany) and specialized boats (e.g. "L'abeille Bourbon"). In Mountains, French gendarmerie is equipped with EC-145 'chouka'. In the other areas, French civil protection agency "Securité Civile" works with paramedics, fire unit and hospital mobile unit using EC-145 'Dragon'. Search and Rescue in German waters

12000-564: The responsibility of the Canadian Forces and Canadian Coast Guard in conjunction with volunteer organisations. The Department of National Defence (DND) has overall responsibility for the coordinated search and rescue system. SAR operations are organised by Joint Rescue Coordination Centres (JRCC). The JRCC are staffed 24 hours a day by SAR Co-ordinators from the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Forces. Authority for

12120-530: The rock. In the coseismic phase, such an increase can significantly affect slip evolution and speed, in the post-seismic phase it can control the Aftershock sequence because, after the main event, pore pressure increase slowly propagates into the surrounding fracture network. From the point of view of the Mohr-Coulomb strength theory , an increase in fluid pressure reduces the normal stress acting on

12240-437: The rupture of geological faults but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, fracking and nuclear tests . An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its hypocenter or focus. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter. The seismic activity of an area is the frequency, type, and size of earthquakes experienced over a particular time. The seismicity at

12360-522: The same numeric value within the limits of the scale. Although the mass media commonly reports earthquake magnitudes as "Richter magnitude" or "Richter scale", standard practice by most seismological authorities is to express an earthquake's strength on the moment magnitude scale, which is based on the actual energy released by an earthquake, the static seismic moment. Every earthquake produces different types of seismic waves, which travel through rock with different velocities: Propagation velocity of

12480-464: The seismic waves through solid rock ranges from approx. 3 km/s (1.9 mi/s) up to 13 km/s (8.1 mi/s), depending on the density and elasticity of the medium. In the Earth's interior, the shock- or P waves travel much faster than the S waves (approx. relation 1.7:1). The differences in travel time from the epicenter to the observatory are a measure of the distance and can be used to image both sources of earthquakes and structures within

12600-806: The ships patrolling the North Atlantic, but also supported the S-55s. In 1964–1965 the seven S-55s were replaced with eight Sikorsky S-61A helicopters. In 2007, the Danish Defence held a public display in Horsens , to raise awareness about rescue services and maritime safety. Maritime SAR is important because Denmark has a relative long coast line to its land mass. In 2008, the SAR forces in Denmark were equipped with eight EH-101, one or two Lynx, 34 naval home guard vessels and 21 rescue vessels, as well as

12720-422: The stresses and strains on the crust, including building reservoirs, extracting resources such as coal or oil, and injecting fluids underground for waste disposal or fracking . Most of these earthquakes have small magnitudes. The 5.7 magnitude 2011 Oklahoma earthquake is thought to have been caused by disposing wastewater from oil production into injection wells , and studies point to the state's oil industry as

12840-490: The surrounding fracture networks; such an increase may trigger new faulting processes by reactivating adjacent faults, giving rise to aftershocks. Analogously, artificial pore pressure increase, by fluid injection in Earth's crust, may induce seismicity . Tides may trigger some seismicity . Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related to each other in terms of location and time. Most earthquake clusters consist of small tremors that cause little to no damage, but there

12960-443: The thickness of the brittle layer is only about six kilometres (3.7 mi). Reverse faults occur in areas where the crust is being shortened such as at a convergent boundary . Reverse faults, particularly those along convergent boundaries, are associated with the most powerful earthquakes (called megathrust earthquakes ) including almost all of those of magnitude 8 or more. Megathrust earthquakes are responsible for about 90% of

13080-461: The total seismic moment released worldwide. Strike-slip faults are steep structures where the two sides of the fault slip horizontally past each other; transform boundaries are a particular type of strike-slip fault. Strike-slip faults, particularly continental transforms , can produce major earthquakes up to about magnitude 8. Strike-slip faults tend to be oriented near vertically, resulting in an approximate width of 10 km (6.2 mi) within

13200-569: The unit participates in IDF's and other security bodies special operations . In addition, the unit's teams are rushed to complex rescue events for which civilian emergency services are unable to provide an adequate response. Mountain rescue in Italy is provided by CNSAS ( Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico , En. The National Alpine Cliff and Cave Rescue Corps ), a voluntary agency that provides nationwide mountain search and rescue operations in difficult terrains in close cooperations with

13320-505: The universality of such events beyond Earth. An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves . Earthquakes may also be referred to as quakes , tremors , or temblors . The word tremor is also used for non-earthquake seismic rumbling . In its most general sense, an earthquake is any seismic event—whether natural or caused by humans—that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by

13440-436: The vast improvement in instrumentation, rather than an increase in the number of earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that, since 1900, there have been an average of 18 major earthquakes (magnitude 7.0–7.9) and one great earthquake (magnitude 8.0 or greater) per year, and that this average has been relatively stable. In recent years, the number of major earthquakes per year has decreased, though this

13560-411: The visitor's park entrance fee. Parks Canada visitor safety specialists also manage highway avalanche control programs and publish a daily public avalanche bulletin between November and May. The Mountain Rescue Service (Horská služba České republiky, HS ČR) of the Czech Republic provides nationwide mountain rescue operations and search and rescue operations in difficult terrains in close cooperations with

13680-611: The world organized mountain rescue services are often negligible or non-existent. Österreichischer Bergrettungsdienst (ÖBRD) performs mountain rescue operations in the Austrian Alps and in Waldviertel . Alpiner Rettungsausschuß Wien (ARAW) was founded in 1896 after an avalanche on Rax killed three mountaineers. In 1938 the organization was merged with the Deutsche Bergwacht . In 1946 (after World War II)

13800-475: The world's earliest well-documented SAR efforts ensued following the 1656 wreck of the Dutch merchant ship Vergulde Draeck off the west coast of Australia . Survivors sought help, and in response three separate SAR missions were conducted, without success. On 29 November 1945, a Sikorsky R-5 performed the first civilian helicopter rescue operation in history, with Sikorsky's chief pilot Dmitry "Jimmy" Viner in

13920-582: Was founded in 1952 in Sarajevo and is the oldest continuously-functioning organization of such type in the present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the need arose even further, stations in additional cities were established as well. The Bosnian Mountain Rescue Union, although existent, acts merely as a supervisory-organization, as each station acts and finances itself independently, mostly relying on their distinguished municipal offices of Civil Defense. In

14040-548: Was initiated by U.S., South Korean, and Japanese ships and aircraft in international waters, but no survivors were found. In July 2009, Air France Flight 447 was lost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. An international SAR effort was launched, to no avail. A third effort nearly two years later discovered the crash site and recovered the flight recorders . In early 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed under mysterious circumstances. Many nations contributed to

14160-613: Was provided by volunteers. The unit is divided into: The group comprises 250 members who undergo ten months training in a specialized training center in Candanchu . The unit is divided into five regions ( Jaca , Cangas de Onís , Navacerrada , Granada , Vielha e Mijaran ). In 2011 they carried out 761 missions. In Catalonia a special division of the fire department, GRAE (Support Group for Special Actions), are responsible for mountain rescue. Switzerland has an incredibly dense network of alpine rescue and relief organisations. Most of

14280-483: Was short. To increase the operational area, Pembroke twin-engined fixed-wing aircraft were employed for search. These aircraft would localise the distressed person(s) and the S-55s would then rescue them. The SAR service was started for respond to fighter-plane crashes as 79 aircraft crashed, with 62 dead, in the period 1950–1955., but civilian SAR duties are also conducted. In 1962, eight ship-based Aérospatiale Alouette IIIs were received. These were primarily meant for

14400-641: Was the deadliest of the 20th century. The 1960 Chilean earthquake is the largest earthquake that has been measured on a seismograph, reaching 9.5 magnitude on 22 May 1960. Its epicenter was near Cañete, Chile. The energy released was approximately twice that of the next most powerful earthquake, the Good Friday earthquake (27 March 1964), which was centered in Prince William Sound , Alaska. The ten largest recorded earthquakes have all been megathrust earthquakes ; however, of these ten, only

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