Former New Zealand captain Richie McCaw has joined the recovery effort after his country was hit by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.

McCaw, who is a commercial helicopter pilot, is flying supplies into the affected areas and coordinating fire engine services as part of the rescue operation.

The earthquake which struck over the weekend has triggered aftershocks and a tsunami warning for the east coast of the country. 

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald about his contribution to the recovery, McCaw said:

"Like everyone else, I got woken up at midnight... Yeah, it was a bit scary. From there, we took the Fire Service just north and south of Kaikoura to check out all the slips and make sure everyone was accounted for."

"At one point, the railway was way out over the sea - it had been pushed out by slips. It would not have been a nice place to be at midnight last night. Just from a selfish point of view, it's nice to be able to fly but you'd like to be able to do it in better circumstances."

Cool to see Richie McCaw working as a chopper pilot to aide emergency effort. pic.twitter.com/noeFf7cQJQ

— Steve Hale (@bullhale) November 14, 2016