At Least 65 Dead in New Zealand Quake
A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake Tuesday killed 65 people and trapped dozens more under flattened buildings in New Zealand's most devastating tremor in 80 years.
Frantic rescuers and bystanders dug for survivors and thousands of panicked residents rushed into the streets of Christchurch, just six months after a 7.0 quake weakened buildings in the southern city of 340,000.
Prime Minister John Key warned the death toll was likely to rise after the earthquake, which struck at lunchtime as streets were thronged with shoppers, and turned the city center into a rubble-strewn war zone.
"The death toll I have at the moment is 65 and that may rise. So it's an absolute tragedy for this city, for New Zealand, for the people that we care so much about," Key told TVNZ.
"It's a terrifying time for the people of Canterbury," he said, referring to the region around Christchurch.
The city's iconic cathedral lost its spire, and the six-storey Canterbury TV building was reduced to a smoking ruin. Witnesses said 30 people had been trapped in a collapsed, four-storey office block which houses 200 workers.
Rubble and debris littered the city center as dazed residents wandered past crushed vehicles, before the area was evacuated. Christchurch mayor Bob Parker declared a five-day state of emergency.
Local station TV3 said dead bodies had been pulled from a hostel and a bookshop, and a tourist was crushed to death in a van. All flights across the country were briefly suspended after a Christchurch control tower was damaged.
Power was cut to thousands of residents, mobile phone networks were disrupted and road and rail transport was badly hit after the violent tremor, which tore gaping fissures in asphalt.
Seismologists said the tremor was more damaging than September's quake, despite being smaller, because it was nearer to Christchurch's center and much closer to the earth's surface.
The quake struck at 12:51 pm (2351 GMT Monday), five kilometers (three miles) from Christchurch at a depth of just four kilometers.
Video footage showed a landslide crushing a small building, while passersby fled for their lives from underneath a collapsing awning. Several strong aftershocks pummeled the stricken city.
Christchurch airport was closed and The Press building, a center for newspapers, was badly damaged. Reports said trapped survivors were desperately texting their families from the wreckage.
Source: Agence France Presse
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