Major earthquake hits Christchurch with reports of many people trapped
Multiple fatalities and widespread damage as Christchurch, New Zealand is hit by 6.3 magnitude quake
4.30am / 5.30pm NZ: National broadcaster TVNZ has opened a live web feed for international viewers to watch events in Christchurch here.
Radio New Zealand's National programme is running rolling news with a live audio feed here.
4.22am / 5.22pm NZ: Thanks Lee. As a former resident of Canterbury I know the city well and I have many relatives and friends living there, and the live footage being shown on television is devastating.
Here's an summary of how things stand at the moment:
Just before 1pm local time the city of Christchurch was hit by a major earthquake registering 6.3 on the Richter scale, close to the surface, making it more damaging than the 7.1 scale shock that hit the city in September
Police and civil defence authorities have confirmed that there are an unknown number of casualties
Two commuter buses were crushed under falling debris
City authorities have ordered the evacuation of the city centre, as after-shocks threaten weakened buildings, power and water has been cut off and sewerage pipes have ruptured
A major search and rescue operation is under way to find people trapped inside collapsed buildings in the centre of the city, with at least 30 thought to be in one building alone
The steeple of Christchurch Cathedral, a city landmark, has partly collapsed with reports of people trapped inside the cathedral
The New Zealand dollar's value has tumbled on foreign exchanges
4.17am/ 5.17pm NZ: I'm going to handover to my colleague - and former resident of New Zealand, Richard Adams to take over for a little while.
3.59am/4:59pm NZ! : The Ne w Zealand Herald has spoken to Kevin Fenaughty, the data centre manager at Geonet, who said the epicentre of the quake was located at the "worst possible location" for the city.
It's a nightmare. A lot of people were just getting back on their feet after the original quake.
3.51am/4:51pm NZ: Some of the descriptions coming through from witnesses can give us a little bit more of a picture about what happened when the quake struck. Gary Moore said he and 19 other colleagues were trapped in their twelfth floor office after the stairwell collapsed in the quake. He did not know if people on other floors were trapped.
We watched the cathedral collapse out our window while we were holding onto the walls. 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.
City councilman Barry Corbett, who was on one of the top floors of the city council building when the quake struck.
When the shaking had stopped I looked out of the window, which gives a great view onto Christchurch, and there was just dust. It was evident straight away that a lot of buildings had gone.
John Gurr, a camera technician who was in the city centre when the quake hit said:
I was in the square right outside the cathedral - the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there. There were people inside as well. A lady grabbed hold of me to stop falling over...We just got blown apart. Colombo Street, the main street, is just a mess...There's lots of water everywhere, pouring out of the ground.
3.49am/4:49pm NZ: Here is an image as the earthquake hit where you can see some of the damage done to the Catherdral.
3.46am/ 4:46pm NZ: One of the buildings which appears to have some of the worst! damage so far is the Christchurch Cathedral, a site of much affection throughout the city. Here are pictures showing the damage. This is am image of the Cathedral taken at the end of last year.
3.35am/ 4:34pm NZ: The Pyne Gould Guinness Building, a multi-story structure housing more than 200 workers, has collapsed and an unknown number of people are trapped inside.
3.27am/ 4:27pm NZ: Christchurch mayor Bob Parker has declared a level 3 emergency in Christchurch and the city is being evacuated. "Make no mistake this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he said when asked about possible deaths.
3.24am/4:24pm NZ: It appears that the timing of the quake - when the city was at its busiest with many people moving around during their lunch hour, has meant that while it was of less magnitude than the earthquake in September last year, the damage has been far more extensive, and injuries worse. Witnesses have said the gravity of the force felt a lot stronger than 6.3. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck near the city with a shallow depth of 4 kilometres, shortly before 12:50pm local time.
3.15am/4:15pm NZ: TV3 New Zealand is reporting that the city has run out of ambulances and Christchurch airport is closed to all but emergency flights. Police have said there was a report of two buses crushed under falling buildings. Power and telephone lines were knocked out, and pipes have burst, flooding the streets with water.
3.13am/4:13pm NZ: Christchurch mayor Bob Parker has given an interview to Radio New Zealand:
We now need to think about all the things we learnt at that time (of the September 4 quake).
"Emergency services now have the incredibly difficult task of navigating a city which is evacuating itself.
"We need to start the process of checking hundreds of people.
"I don't have an overview.
"That was as violent as the earthquake we had on the September 4th.
"We had a nasty shock again about 30 to 60 seconds later."3.0 8am/4:08pm NZ: You can follow a live-stream of the rescue effort taking place in Christchurch here.
3.01am/ 4:01pm NZ: There are numerous reports of people trapped in buildings throughout the city though details remain unclear as to numbers.
"It is huge. We just don't know if there are people under this rubble," a priest standing outside the rubble of a damaged cathedral told New Zealand television.2.59am/3:59pm NZ: New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is on his way to Christchurch following an emergency cabinet meeting in Wellington. Earlier he told cabinet:
"This is a very populated time with people at work and children at school. Sadly, I cannot rule out whether there have been fatalities or not. But we are aware of significant damage to buildings that had people in them at the time."
2.55am/3:55pm NZ: Here are some of the latest details coming through from Reuters.
A strong quake hit New Zealand's second-biggest city of Christchurch, toppling buildings, causing "multiple fatalities", trapping people beneath rubble and sparking fires.
Local TV showed bodies being pulled out of rubble strewn around the city centre, though it was unclear whether any of them were alive, but police reported multiple fatalities after the 6.3 magnitude quake struck during the busy lunchtime.
"I was in the square right outside the cathedral - the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there - there were people inside as well," said John Gurr, a camera technician who was in the centre of the city when the quake hit.
"A lady grabbed hold of me to stop falling over ... It's not nice at all. We just got blown apart. Colombo Street, the main street, is just a mess ... There's lots of water everywhere, pouring out of the ground - its liquefaction - its an absolute mess."2.45am/3:45pm NZ: : New Zealand's second largest city has been hit by a strong earthquake, measuring 6.3 in m! agnitude , with first reports suggesting there are multiple fatalities and people trapped in buildings. This is the second earthquake in five months to hit the region, with a 7.1 magnitude quake in September last year which caused widespread damage but there were no deaths. You can follow a live-feed of the rescue here and read our latest news story on what happened when the quake hit.
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