Massive quake rocks Christchurch

Buildings crumbled, roads buckled and shattered glass showered the streets of
Christchurch on Saturday when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand's
second-largest city.
Officials said it was "extremely lucky" no one was killed when the quake woke the
South Island city just before dawn, triggering gas leaks, rupturing water and sewer
mains, cutting electricity and destroying bridges.
Frightened residents fled their homes to find streets littered with bricks and
shards of glass when the quake - one of the largest in NZ's history - occurred.
Markham McMullen, the principal of a school near the epicentre, said it felt like a
train slammed in to his house, jolting him and his wife out of bed.
"It just kept coming, it went on and on," he told news agency AFP.
"It was absolutely terrifying."
Old buildings were the worst affected, with entire facades of brick structures
collapsing onto the street, crushing cars under tonnes of debris and leaving rooms
exposed.
At Castle Rock, a rugged outcrop just outside the city of 340,000 people, the quake
sent boulders bigger than cars tumbling down the hillside.
Michele Hider, a spokeswoman for Christchurch Hospital - which was running on
generator power - said a couple of men in their 50s were seriously injured - one was
hit when a chimney fell and the other was cut by shattered glass.
Others had been treated for fractures and lacerations and a state of natural
disaster was declared, the Civil Aviation Authority said.
"I think we've been extremely lucky as a nation that there's been no fatalities ...
we're blessed actually," Civil Defence Minister John Carter said.
Once services at Christchurch Airport resumed on Saturday, NZ Prime Minister John
Key flew in to assess the damage to the Canterbury region, on the east coast of the
South Island.
Mr Key promised a hefty government contribution to cover the cost of damage, which
authorities said could total $NZ2 billion ($A1.5 billion).
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said he was "horrified by the amount of damage" which,
he said, was worse than first thought.
The quake initially recorded a magnitude of 7.4 and struck at 4.35am local time
(0235 AEST) at a depth of five kilometres about 45 kilometres west of Christchurch,
the US Geological Survey said.
Geoscience Australia later in the day reported the quake was a 7.0 magnitude tremor.
The Civil Aviation Authority said several aftershocks had occurred throughout the
day, peaking at a magnitude of 5.2, and were likely to shake the city for the next
week.
Shaken residents will battle a severe weather warning for gale force winds on Sunday
and heavy rains are expected on Monday.
Christchurch was under curfew late Saturday, Sky News reported.