Gumleaf
February 21st, 2011, 10:24 PM
13:00 AEST Tue Feb 22 2011
By ninemsn staff
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8214609/powerful-earthquake-strikes-christchurch
A devastating earthquake has struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch, destroying dozens of buildings in the city centre and causing "multiple fatalities".
Numerous people are trapped in city buildings following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which hit at 10.51am (AEDT).
Some of those killed were believed to have been travelling in two buses which were crushed by falling buildings, TVNZ said.
A witness saw the facade of a building collapse on a bus on Colombo St.
"There's people dead. [They're] pulling them out of a bus," the witness told the New Zealand Herald newspaper.
Live television pictures showed residents of the South Island city emerging from destroyed CBD buildings in tears and shaking.
Many screamed as apparent aftershocks dislodged large pieces of the badly damaged Christchurch Cathedral, which sits on the edge of the city's main square.
The city has run out of ambulances and residents from the outer suburbs are driving into the centre in their four-wheel drives and station wagons to help rescue people and get them to triage centres, TV3 said.
The spire of the cathedral collapsed on to the street, and television pictures showed at least one person was still inside the building.
A priest told TV3 he feared people were trapped in the rubble.
"It's just huge, it is huge," he said.
"The building's a building. The really important thing is the people.
"We just don't know if there are people under that rubble. I fear there are."
A backpacker is presumed dead after being trapped on a van in Gloucester St, near the cathedral, news website stuff.co.nz reports. In nearby Cambridge Terrace there was a dramatic rescue of a woman on top of the Pyne Gould Guinness Building.
Up to 200 people were inside the building when the quake hit and witnesses could hear the screams of those still trapped inside. (Read more: Scores trapped) Philip Gregan, a visitor to the city, said the quake was "incredibly violent, very very scary".
"We're all standing out on the street with sirens going off around us.
"Oh no, there's another one," he said while on the phone.
"I want to get out of here."
Another visitor to the city said he saw someone trying to revive a victim in the back of a ute as he drove out of the city centre.
"[There was] another guy on the back of a ute with a bag covering a body," Jeremy Brown told ninemsn.
Mr Brown was at a cafe in the city centre when the quake hit.
"The initial shock was really sharp, people getting thrown around, it lasted for 20 to 30 seconds."
"My uncle grabbed me and we got under the door, there was glass smashing everywhere."
"We got outside and it was crazy, buildings falling down."
"People were screaming at us to get away because the Copthorne Hotel was about to collapse."
Other witnesses said people were in the streets and the whole central city was gridlocked as businesses evacuated and employees rushed home to check on their families.
There are fears people are trapped under the rubble of the collapsed buildings, and emergency services are finding it difficult to access the city because of the gridlock.
The damage is worse than that caused by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the city on September 4 last year, according to witnesses. GNS Science said today's quake was more damaging because of its shallow depth. The September quake hit at 4.35am (NZ time) when most residents were asleep at home and therefore out of the path of falling buildings.
"The worrying fear is this earthquake has happened at a time when Cantabrians are going about their business," Prime Minister John Key told parliament today.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said he was "thrown quite a distance" by the quake.
He told Radio New Zealand there were scenes of "great confusion" and added: "That was, in the city central anyway, as violent as the one that happened on the 4th of September.
A witness told the NZ Herald the scene was "bloody awful" near Sheffield, a town west of Christchurch.
"[Houses] rolled up and down and shook violently for a good 10 seconds or more. My husband in town has no power — I am a shaking wreck."
GNS duty seismologist Bill Fry told the NZ Herald the acceleration of today's earthquake was larger in Christchurch city than the magnitude 7.1 earthquake last year.
By ninemsn staff
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8214609/powerful-earthquake-strikes-christchurch
A devastating earthquake has struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch, destroying dozens of buildings in the city centre and causing "multiple fatalities".
Numerous people are trapped in city buildings following the 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which hit at 10.51am (AEDT).
Some of those killed were believed to have been travelling in two buses which were crushed by falling buildings, TVNZ said.
A witness saw the facade of a building collapse on a bus on Colombo St.
"There's people dead. [They're] pulling them out of a bus," the witness told the New Zealand Herald newspaper.
Live television pictures showed residents of the South Island city emerging from destroyed CBD buildings in tears and shaking.
Many screamed as apparent aftershocks dislodged large pieces of the badly damaged Christchurch Cathedral, which sits on the edge of the city's main square.
The city has run out of ambulances and residents from the outer suburbs are driving into the centre in their four-wheel drives and station wagons to help rescue people and get them to triage centres, TV3 said.
The spire of the cathedral collapsed on to the street, and television pictures showed at least one person was still inside the building.
A priest told TV3 he feared people were trapped in the rubble.
"It's just huge, it is huge," he said.
"The building's a building. The really important thing is the people.
"We just don't know if there are people under that rubble. I fear there are."
A backpacker is presumed dead after being trapped on a van in Gloucester St, near the cathedral, news website stuff.co.nz reports. In nearby Cambridge Terrace there was a dramatic rescue of a woman on top of the Pyne Gould Guinness Building.
Up to 200 people were inside the building when the quake hit and witnesses could hear the screams of those still trapped inside. (Read more: Scores trapped) Philip Gregan, a visitor to the city, said the quake was "incredibly violent, very very scary".
"We're all standing out on the street with sirens going off around us.
"Oh no, there's another one," he said while on the phone.
"I want to get out of here."
Another visitor to the city said he saw someone trying to revive a victim in the back of a ute as he drove out of the city centre.
"[There was] another guy on the back of a ute with a bag covering a body," Jeremy Brown told ninemsn.
Mr Brown was at a cafe in the city centre when the quake hit.
"The initial shock was really sharp, people getting thrown around, it lasted for 20 to 30 seconds."
"My uncle grabbed me and we got under the door, there was glass smashing everywhere."
"We got outside and it was crazy, buildings falling down."
"People were screaming at us to get away because the Copthorne Hotel was about to collapse."
Other witnesses said people were in the streets and the whole central city was gridlocked as businesses evacuated and employees rushed home to check on their families.
There are fears people are trapped under the rubble of the collapsed buildings, and emergency services are finding it difficult to access the city because of the gridlock.
The damage is worse than that caused by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the city on September 4 last year, according to witnesses. GNS Science said today's quake was more damaging because of its shallow depth. The September quake hit at 4.35am (NZ time) when most residents were asleep at home and therefore out of the path of falling buildings.
"The worrying fear is this earthquake has happened at a time when Cantabrians are going about their business," Prime Minister John Key told parliament today.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said he was "thrown quite a distance" by the quake.
He told Radio New Zealand there were scenes of "great confusion" and added: "That was, in the city central anyway, as violent as the one that happened on the 4th of September.
A witness told the NZ Herald the scene was "bloody awful" near Sheffield, a town west of Christchurch.
"[Houses] rolled up and down and shook violently for a good 10 seconds or more. My husband in town has no power — I am a shaking wreck."
GNS duty seismologist Bill Fry told the NZ Herald the acceleration of today's earthquake was larger in Christchurch city than the magnitude 7.1 earthquake last year.