The 2011 Canterbury earthquake ranks as New Zealand’s second-most destructive in terms of damage and fatalities. The magnitude 6.3 earthquake was directly responsible for 185 deaths and the declaration of a state of emergency. Previously, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake had struck Canterbury in 2010, causing widespread damage to residential and commercial buildings. Possibly due to this earlier event, the emergency management structures in place during the 2011 earthquake have been internationally praised (MOCDEM, 2012), and operational responses from police, ambulance, fire services, defence forces and other relevant agencies were rapid. Unlike the first earthquake in 2010, however, there were fatalities, and so those undertaking emergency operations were exposed to greater and more numerous experiences that were potentially trauma-inducing. Previous studies have estimated psychological morbidity in earthquake survivors, in particular posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD may occur following exposure to an excessively stressful event or situation, and is characterised by persistent recall of the stressor (flash backs, vivid memories, recurring dreams) and/or extreme distress when exposed to circumstances that can be linked to the stressor (ICD-10; WHO, 2010). Reviewing previous studies, Zhang et al. (2014) report that the prevalence of PTSD is relatively high in earthquake survivors. A Taiwanese study suggested that up to 21 per cent of survivors suffered PTSD two years after the “Chi-Chi” (or “۹۲۱”) earthquake (Kuo et al., 2007), while a study undertaken five years after the Wenchuan earthquake in China indicated that 9 per cent of survivors had PTSD (Zhang et al., 2015). Another study undertaken after the Wenchuan earthquake found high levels of PTSD, anxiety, depression and suicidality among both children and adults (Ying et al., 2014).