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65 dead in devastating Christchurch quake
[video]http://www.3news.co.nz/Christchurch-quake-Police-confirm-fatalities/tabid/309/articleID/199309/Default.aspx[/video]
LATEST: An earthquake in Christchurch has claimed at least 65 lives and scores more are injured in what Prime Minister John Key says "may well be New Zealand's darkest day".
Key tonight confirmed that at least 65 people were dead after the shallow 6.3 earthquake, which hit 10km southeast of the city just before 1pm. That quake has been followed by constant aftershocks, some as powerful as magnitude 5.
Buildings have been destroyed, with an unknown number of people trapped inside, with rescuers saying some people would remain trapped overnight.
Hospitals around the South Island were being cleared to take the hundreds of casualties expected, while makeshift hospitals were being set up in parts of Christchurch.
Civil Defence director John Hamilton said the death toll was expected to climb.
"This is a big problem. Far worse in casualties than the 4th of September, largely because it happened at a different time of the day," Hamilton said.
"Everybody was at work, it was lunchtime and people were in the streets and we've got to be realistic about it, but we don't want to go over the top at this stage. I think we've got to be prepared to accept that there is going to be quite a heavy toll."
Up to 500 people have set up for the night in Hagley Park, where they will be spending the night.
The suburbs of Lyttleton and new Brighton have reportedly been left "unliveable".
SCREAMS FROM COLLAPSED BUILDING
Witnesses said screams could be heard coming from the Pyne Gould Business building where dozens of people were feared trapped.
A number of people were also trapped in the iconic Press building in Cathedral Square. Some had managed to free themselves.
People died when buses were crushed under falling building facades radio NZ reported.
Pyne Gould Corporation has confirmed that staff from the building are missing, but would not say how many. The company was working to account for each staff member.
At the building's cordon, Labour Party leader Phil Goff said at least 30 people were feared trapped inside and at least one person was killed. Families were congregating at the cordon, he said.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said: "There are people fighting for their lives at the moment but there are also people fighting for them."
"We're in the middle of an extremely serious situation. We're preparing ourselves for what I think will be a really sad, bleak day for our city but be reassured everybody is doing what they can."
Parker said there were currently people still trapped in cars and buildings, with some being able to phone to say they're trapped.
Defence Forces have been called in to assist with the earthquake recovery and were going door to door checking on residents.
The airport was closed to all but emergency flights and Lyttelton tunnel was shut. Christchurch Hospital remained open but was also damaged. It asked that only seriously injured people come to the emergency department. It had a full emergency plan in operation.
Power should return to half of Christchurch tonight, with most of the city back on in the next three to four days, lines company Orion said.
St John's Ambulance had run out of ambulances and was using four wheel drives to get the injured out.
The New Zealand Blood Service has been flooded with calls from people wanting to donate blood.
The service said it presently had adequate blood stock, but would advise through its Facebook page and website if that changed.
THE RESCUE EFFORT
Welfare centres across the city were being set up with one in Hagley Park already, the Civil Defence director said.
Police needed to identify victims and notify next of kin.
The national crisis management centre was coordinating resources.
An Urban Search and Rescue team (SAR) from Australia would arrive after midnight.
Two New Zealand SAR teams were on their way as well as ambulances from around the South Island.
The SAR teams would go "hardout" for the first couple of days but it was likely that some people would be stuck in buildings over night.
"There could well be people that are stuck in a building overnight. I would expect that is in all probability the case."
Some critical patients had been flown from Christchurch to other hospitals around the South Island.
Military personnel were being coordinated to make areas safe.
CATHEDRAL, HOTELS DAMAGED
The spire of Christchurch Cathedral, the heart of the city, has collapsed.
Dean of Cathedral Peter Beck said they tried to get out who they could but it was now in the hands of emergency services. "It doesn't look good".
He had "no idea" of how many people were inside.
Power was out in a significant portion of the city.
A significant number of hotels have collapsed and it was not known how many people were inside, Civil Defence Minister John Carter said.
Bodies were seen being taken out of the damaged YHA hostel in the city.
On the corner of Lichfield and High Streets, a block of shops had completely collapsed and rescue services believed four or five people are trapped in the rubble.
One body had been pulled from the wreckage.
People trapped in the CBD have put signs up at the windows saying 'HELP'.
Helicopters were being used to put out fires in the central city.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
Amber Armitage said people were wandering around central Christchurch trying to get out but all exits from the city were blocked.
There was a strong smell of gas and clouds of dust.
A bus on Colombo St was "completely trapped under bricks" and people were working to free passengers trapped in it.
She said the quake felt much stronger than the 7.1 September 4 2010 earthquake and thought the city was "irreparable".
Former Blenheim woman Joh Bloomberg was working in Ballantynes department store in central Christchurch when the earthquake struck.
"I was clinging to this cupboard next to my desk. I thought it was going to be fine, but it got worse and worse, and went on for so long. It's the worst one I've felt."
She walked outside to nearby Lichfield St and saw a car flattened by a fallen section of building.
"I'm normally pretty calm with things like this but when I saw a huge concrete slab on top of that car ...
"It's squashed down to zero. You never think you'll see anything like that."
Everyone was screaming as they left the store.
A colleague of Miss Bloomberg's walked outside to Cashel St mall and saw people lying on the ground who she thought had been hit by falling rubble from a nearby cafe.
Before people were evacuated from the store to nearby Hagley Park because of a suspected gas leak, 25-year-old Miss Bloomberg said plaster from the store roof was falling and she could see the sky through the roof.
She was waiting in Hagley Park for her mother to collect her and take her home. The ground was very soft underneath, probably from liquefaction, and the Avon River was up extremely high.
Traffic in the area was "crazy", she said.
Christchurch resident Sean Scanlon said it was by far the biggest shake since the original September 4 quake. The power was out and phone lines jammed.
Kay Cowlishaw said there was destruction everywhere.
"There's just water pouring out and sewerage, the whole garage is filled with water. There are cracks in the road.
Sally Blundell lives in Opawa and said their whole house shifted on its piles.
"We have no water, no power. We are really shaken. Most of us do not know what has happened to the inner city. We are just hearing reports on the radio and it sounds really frightening. The ground is still like jelly, a low level shake all the time."
Malcolm, a policeman from Darfield, was driving in the city when the earthquake hit.
"I thought I had a flat tyre, then the place was shaking like hell."
He said oak trees in the Hagley Park had been uprooted and fallen across tents.
"I'm shaken, I'm at Christ College now and the school is a shambles - there's a lot of damage to the buildings.
"All of the water pipes are burst and it looks like a tsunami coming across the park."
"It's just unbelievable - just the sheer power."
His daughter was at Rangi Ruru school and she said students were running around screaming.
Malcolm's wife Jenny said the mayor was on the radio telling people not to go outside.
"It doesn't sound good - it sounds like this time people injured," she said.
HOSPITAL INUNDATED WITH WOUNDED
St John district commander Tony Dowell said they had been seeing a range of injuries from serious to minor.
Mostly of the injuries were from crushing.
St John was mobilising resources from West Coast, Dunedin, Nelson and South Canterbury.
The National Crisis Centre in Auckland had also been activated.
Dowell said some patients were being sent to other medical centres and 24-hour emergency centres around Christchurch.
A patient in Christchurch Hospital, who was in the riverside block when the first quake hit, said things were falling down and some elderly people were injured in the stairs.
"It was just a lot of panic. The nurses and doctors were quite calm but I think just like the first time, it was all quiet, then all of a sudden there was panic."
FELT MORE STRONGLY THAN SEPTEMBER QUAKE
Today's 6.3 earthquake would have felt more powerful for Christchurch residents than the original quake on September 4.
GNS duty seismologist Bill Fry said the acceleration of today's earthquake was larger in Christchurch city than the magnitude 7 earthquake last year.
"Instantaneously, they would have felt the greatest amount of shaking today. But the duration would not have been as long."
The earthquake happened at a shallow depth of five to six kilometres below ground.
In the city, the acceleration measured the same as the force of gravity.
In September, the largest acceleration felt around the city was on its eastern side, and this measured 0.8 times the force of gravity.
Today's earthquake did not last as long as the September quake, but Dr Fry said its duration had not been confirmed yet.
link:
65 dead in devastating Christchurch quake | Stuff.co.nz
[video]http://www.3news.co.nz/Christchurch-quake-Police-confirm-fatalities/tabid/309/articleID/199309/Default.aspx[/video]
LATEST: An earthquake in Christchurch has claimed at least 65 lives and scores more are injured in what Prime Minister John Key says "may well be New Zealand's darkest day".
Key tonight confirmed that at least 65 people were dead after the shallow 6.3 earthquake, which hit 10km southeast of the city just before 1pm. That quake has been followed by constant aftershocks, some as powerful as magnitude 5.
Buildings have been destroyed, with an unknown number of people trapped inside, with rescuers saying some people would remain trapped overnight.
Hospitals around the South Island were being cleared to take the hundreds of casualties expected, while makeshift hospitals were being set up in parts of Christchurch.
Civil Defence director John Hamilton said the death toll was expected to climb.
"This is a big problem. Far worse in casualties than the 4th of September, largely because it happened at a different time of the day," Hamilton said.
"Everybody was at work, it was lunchtime and people were in the streets and we've got to be realistic about it, but we don't want to go over the top at this stage. I think we've got to be prepared to accept that there is going to be quite a heavy toll."
Up to 500 people have set up for the night in Hagley Park, where they will be spending the night.
The suburbs of Lyttleton and new Brighton have reportedly been left "unliveable".
SCREAMS FROM COLLAPSED BUILDING
Witnesses said screams could be heard coming from the Pyne Gould Business building where dozens of people were feared trapped.
A number of people were also trapped in the iconic Press building in Cathedral Square. Some had managed to free themselves.
People died when buses were crushed under falling building facades radio NZ reported.
Pyne Gould Corporation has confirmed that staff from the building are missing, but would not say how many. The company was working to account for each staff member.
At the building's cordon, Labour Party leader Phil Goff said at least 30 people were feared trapped inside and at least one person was killed. Families were congregating at the cordon, he said.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said: "There are people fighting for their lives at the moment but there are also people fighting for them."
"We're in the middle of an extremely serious situation. We're preparing ourselves for what I think will be a really sad, bleak day for our city but be reassured everybody is doing what they can."
Parker said there were currently people still trapped in cars and buildings, with some being able to phone to say they're trapped.
Defence Forces have been called in to assist with the earthquake recovery and were going door to door checking on residents.
The airport was closed to all but emergency flights and Lyttelton tunnel was shut. Christchurch Hospital remained open but was also damaged. It asked that only seriously injured people come to the emergency department. It had a full emergency plan in operation.
Power should return to half of Christchurch tonight, with most of the city back on in the next three to four days, lines company Orion said.
St John's Ambulance had run out of ambulances and was using four wheel drives to get the injured out.
The New Zealand Blood Service has been flooded with calls from people wanting to donate blood.
The service said it presently had adequate blood stock, but would advise through its Facebook page and website if that changed.
THE RESCUE EFFORT
Welfare centres across the city were being set up with one in Hagley Park already, the Civil Defence director said.
Police needed to identify victims and notify next of kin.
The national crisis management centre was coordinating resources.
An Urban Search and Rescue team (SAR) from Australia would arrive after midnight.
Two New Zealand SAR teams were on their way as well as ambulances from around the South Island.
The SAR teams would go "hardout" for the first couple of days but it was likely that some people would be stuck in buildings over night.
"There could well be people that are stuck in a building overnight. I would expect that is in all probability the case."
Some critical patients had been flown from Christchurch to other hospitals around the South Island.
Military personnel were being coordinated to make areas safe.
CATHEDRAL, HOTELS DAMAGED
The spire of Christchurch Cathedral, the heart of the city, has collapsed.
Dean of Cathedral Peter Beck said they tried to get out who they could but it was now in the hands of emergency services. "It doesn't look good".
He had "no idea" of how many people were inside.
Power was out in a significant portion of the city.
A significant number of hotels have collapsed and it was not known how many people were inside, Civil Defence Minister John Carter said.
Bodies were seen being taken out of the damaged YHA hostel in the city.
On the corner of Lichfield and High Streets, a block of shops had completely collapsed and rescue services believed four or five people are trapped in the rubble.
One body had been pulled from the wreckage.
People trapped in the CBD have put signs up at the windows saying 'HELP'.
Helicopters were being used to put out fires in the central city.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
Amber Armitage said people were wandering around central Christchurch trying to get out but all exits from the city were blocked.
There was a strong smell of gas and clouds of dust.
A bus on Colombo St was "completely trapped under bricks" and people were working to free passengers trapped in it.
She said the quake felt much stronger than the 7.1 September 4 2010 earthquake and thought the city was "irreparable".
Former Blenheim woman Joh Bloomberg was working in Ballantynes department store in central Christchurch when the earthquake struck.
"I was clinging to this cupboard next to my desk. I thought it was going to be fine, but it got worse and worse, and went on for so long. It's the worst one I've felt."
She walked outside to nearby Lichfield St and saw a car flattened by a fallen section of building.
"I'm normally pretty calm with things like this but when I saw a huge concrete slab on top of that car ...
"It's squashed down to zero. You never think you'll see anything like that."
Everyone was screaming as they left the store.
A colleague of Miss Bloomberg's walked outside to Cashel St mall and saw people lying on the ground who she thought had been hit by falling rubble from a nearby cafe.
Before people were evacuated from the store to nearby Hagley Park because of a suspected gas leak, 25-year-old Miss Bloomberg said plaster from the store roof was falling and she could see the sky through the roof.
She was waiting in Hagley Park for her mother to collect her and take her home. The ground was very soft underneath, probably from liquefaction, and the Avon River was up extremely high.
Traffic in the area was "crazy", she said.
Christchurch resident Sean Scanlon said it was by far the biggest shake since the original September 4 quake. The power was out and phone lines jammed.
Kay Cowlishaw said there was destruction everywhere.
"There's just water pouring out and sewerage, the whole garage is filled with water. There are cracks in the road.
Sally Blundell lives in Opawa and said their whole house shifted on its piles.
"We have no water, no power. We are really shaken. Most of us do not know what has happened to the inner city. We are just hearing reports on the radio and it sounds really frightening. The ground is still like jelly, a low level shake all the time."
Malcolm, a policeman from Darfield, was driving in the city when the earthquake hit.
"I thought I had a flat tyre, then the place was shaking like hell."
He said oak trees in the Hagley Park had been uprooted and fallen across tents.
"I'm shaken, I'm at Christ College now and the school is a shambles - there's a lot of damage to the buildings.
"All of the water pipes are burst and it looks like a tsunami coming across the park."
"It's just unbelievable - just the sheer power."
His daughter was at Rangi Ruru school and she said students were running around screaming.
Malcolm's wife Jenny said the mayor was on the radio telling people not to go outside.
"It doesn't sound good - it sounds like this time people injured," she said.
HOSPITAL INUNDATED WITH WOUNDED
St John district commander Tony Dowell said they had been seeing a range of injuries from serious to minor.
Mostly of the injuries were from crushing.
St John was mobilising resources from West Coast, Dunedin, Nelson and South Canterbury.
The National Crisis Centre in Auckland had also been activated.
Dowell said some patients were being sent to other medical centres and 24-hour emergency centres around Christchurch.
A patient in Christchurch Hospital, who was in the riverside block when the first quake hit, said things were falling down and some elderly people were injured in the stairs.
"It was just a lot of panic. The nurses and doctors were quite calm but I think just like the first time, it was all quiet, then all of a sudden there was panic."
FELT MORE STRONGLY THAN SEPTEMBER QUAKE
Today's 6.3 earthquake would have felt more powerful for Christchurch residents than the original quake on September 4.
GNS duty seismologist Bill Fry said the acceleration of today's earthquake was larger in Christchurch city than the magnitude 7 earthquake last year.
"Instantaneously, they would have felt the greatest amount of shaking today. But the duration would not have been as long."
The earthquake happened at a shallow depth of five to six kilometres below ground.
In the city, the acceleration measured the same as the force of gravity.
In September, the largest acceleration felt around the city was on its eastern side, and this measured 0.8 times the force of gravity.
Today's earthquake did not last as long as the September quake, but Dr Fry said its duration had not been confirmed yet.
link:
65 dead in devastating Christchurch quake | Stuff.co.nz
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