This bus was crushed by building debris after a 6.3 earthquake ripped through Christchurch, New Zealand today. (Photo by Martin Hunter/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
AT least 65 people have died and dozens are trapped in rubble after a devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake ravaged the New Zealand city of Christchurch today.
Just minutes after New Zealand's Civil Defence director John Hamilton confirmed about 3.50pm SA time that 17 people had died in the quake, Prime Minister John Key announced the death toll had risen to 65.
Mr Key said the death toll was expected to rise further.
"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," he said.
"It's a terrifying time for the people of Canterbury."
Civil Defence workers have retrieved the 65 bodies from the rubble of buildings destroyed when the earthquake hit the city at lunchtime, collapsing office buildings and sending bricks and other heavy debris toppling into busy city streets.
The timing of the quake - striking when streets and workplaces were packed - was in stark contrast to a major quake that damaged the city last September but caused no deaths when it struck before dawn on a weekend.
Emergency crews are still trying to reach dozens trapped in the rubble, pulling people from the Pyne Gould Guinness building where it was reported 200 people had originally been trapped.
Television footage showed the building had collapsed under the immense power of the quake.
Elsewhere in the city, TV3 said the Provincial Council Chambers building had collapsed and people were believed to be trapped inside.
Meanwhile, 20 people were trapped on the 12th floor of the Forsyth Barr building, on Colombo Street.
One of those trapped, Gary Moore, said he and 19 other colleagues were stuck on the 12th floor because the stairwell had collapsed.
"We watched the cathedral collapse out our window while we were holding onto the walls," he said.
"Every aftershock sends us rushing under the desks. It's very unnerving but we can clearly see there are other priorities out the window.
"There has been a lot of damage and I guess people are attending to that before they come and get us."
Meanwhile, television pictures showed firefighters rescuing people trapped in other buildings in the city centre, including a woman plucked from a building believed to be a hotel.
"Multiple fatalities have been reported at several locations in the central city, including two buses crushed by falling buildings. A doctor and emergency services are attending," NZ Police said in a statement.
"Other reports include multiple building collapses, fires in buildings in the central (city) and persons reported trapped in buildings."
Christchurch Hospital was evacuated but later reopened to treat the injured, power failures were reported across the city, phone networks were down and flights were grounded around the nation.
Among the buildings that collapsed were the CTV building, a major hotel and the iconic Christchurch cathedral, the devastated remains of which instantly became a symbol of the disaster.
The US Geological Survey said the 6.3-magnitude quake - the second to rock the south island in a matter of months - was centered 5km from Christchurch, New Zealand's second-largest city, at a relatively shallow depth of 4km. It hit at 12.51pm local time.
A 5.6-magnitude aftershock hit shortly after 11km east of the city at a depth of 6km.
Witnesses say this quake was much more violent than the 7.1-magnitude quake that hit Christchurch in September.
Live video footage showed parts of buildings collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre.
"Make no mistake - this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he said when asked about possible deaths.
The epicentre of the latest quake is near Lyttleton, with tremors felt as far away as Hamilton in the North Island and Wellington, the capital of NZ, and Dunedin at the bottom of the South Island.
