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CMAT and IMAT Rapid Assessment Teams depart for Japan.

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CMAT and IMAT Rapid Assessment Team checking in at YVR. L-R: Ian Burkheimer (IMAT), Dave Johnson (CMAT Team Leader), Kelly Kaley (CMAT), Kevin Sanford (CMAT), Ryan Thorburn (CMAT), Brett Martinson (IMAT).

CMAT and IMAT Rapid Assessment Team checking in at YVR. L-R: Ian Burkheimer (IMAT), Dave Johnson (CMAT Team Leader), Kelly Kaley (CMAT), Kevin Sanford (CMAT), Ryan Thorburn (CMAT), Brett Martinson (IMAT).

Sunday, March 13, 2011 – CMAT assessment team has departed from Vancouver and is travelling to earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan.

Depending on the assessment findings, the team would be the first of many which would rotate through Japan to provide much needed medical assistance and support to the local Japanese affected by the devastating quake and tsunami. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 persons may have died. Countless other Japanese are in need of assistance – food, water, shelter and medical support.

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CMAT Rapid Assessment Team preparing to depart Sunday for Japan: team to evaluate health needs in devastated areas.

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A man takes a picture in Sendai, northern Japan, of the aftermath of the tsunami. (Photo Courtesy Junji Kurokawa/AP)

A man takes a picture in Sendai, northern Japan, of the aftermath of the tsunami. (Photo Courtesy Junji Kurokawa/AP)

Saturday, March 12, 2011 – Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) is deploying its rapid disaster assessment team to Sendai, Japan, scheduled to leave Sunday morning from Vancouver. The organization is also making an emergency appeal for donations to help the people of Japan after the powerful 8.9 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami devastated the region on Friday, which is centred about 300km north of the capitol, Tokyo. Officially, 649 people are confirmed dead, and numbers are expected to increase sharply. There remains no contact with about 10,000 people in Minamisanriku, more than half the town’s population.

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CMAT Rapid Assessment Team standing by for response after 8.9 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

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The quake unleashed a tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tonnes of debris kilometres inland. Here the tsunami strikes shores along Iwanuma. (Photo courtesy Kyodo News/AP)

The quake unleashed a tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tonnes of debris kilometres inland. Here the tsunami strikes shores along Iwanuma. (Photo courtesy Kyodo News/AP)

Friday, March 11, 2011 – The largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history struck offshore on Friday, and police say they’ve found as many as 300 bodies in the north-eastern coastal area that bore the brunt of the tremors and ensuing tsunami. The earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. local time on Friday afternoon, at a depth of 10 kilometres about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, and was followed by at least 19 powerful aftershocks.

Japan’s meteorological agency said the initial earthquake registered at a magnitude of 8.8, while the U.S. Geological Survey said it measured a magnitude 8.9 — enough to rank it fifth among all quakes registered in the past 111 years. Most of the aftershocks registered at 6.0, with one reaching 7.1. Residents of coastal areas were urged to move to higher ground in advance of more devastating waves that experts warn could hit nations throughout Southeast Asia and reach as far away as South America, Alaska, the U.S. West Coast and British Columbia.

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Haiti earthquake – 6 months on

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Children at a local orphanage send their thanks for helping CMAT to provide them with basic medical care.

Children at a local orphanage send their thanks for helping CMAT to provide them with basic medical care.

July 12, 2010 – Today marks 6 months since the devestating earthquake struck Haiti, killing over 200,000 people and rendering well over 1,000,000 homeless. CMAT Executive Director Valerie Rzepka reflects on the organization’s response to this crisis.

The early days
Arriving less than 72 hours after the disaster, I was part of the CMAT Assessment team which quickly set about surveying the areas in and around Port-au-Prince. While I established contact with the UN On-site Operations Coordination Centre (UN-OSOCC), UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), and WHO- Pan-American Health Organization (WHO-PAHO, my colleagues on the assessment team went about scouting the region and environs for a suitable location for our field hospital, where there was the greatest need.

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