By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—The Haitian government prepared Friday to call off the search for survivors of last week’s killer earthquake.

The Haitians were expected to make the announcement at midday, Joe Knerr, of the Fairfax County, Va., Search and Rescue Team, told his unit during their morning briefing at the U.S. Embassy. Haitian government officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Searchers have dug more than 121 people out of the rubble since the Jan. 12 earthquake, but the chances of finding more fall every day, rescue experts say. To survive this long would require a miraculous combination of available water and minor injuries, they say.

“There is still hope–it’s very minute,” said Rex Strickland, a Virginia firefighter and member of the search team. “At some point you have to make that transition” from rescue operations to body recovery and building demolition.

Mr. Strickland said he wouldn’t be surprised if wrecking crews found one or two more survivors trapped in pockets as they peeled away layers of collapsed buildings. The Virginia crew spent Thursday night searching for a three-year-old boy, but stopped their six-hour search when they realized no such pockets remained in his collapsed home.

“They’ve got to rebuild,” Mr. Strickland said Friday. “They’ve got to start the demolition.”

Search crews began to plan their departure from Haiti. A U.S. Air Force pararescue team stopped its search efforts, and the Virginia crew expected to return to the U.S. on Monday.

Some Haitians also turned their attention to clearing the rubble. A woman identifying herself as Kate Pierre Paul handed a homemade flyer to U.S. troops on Thursday as they drove through the city. In it she asked for help demolishing her house, which, she wrote, was so badly damaged that it was in danger of collapse. “I don’t want no more tragedy than we already have,” the note said.

Write to Michael M. Phillips at michael.phillips@wsj.com