Earthquake hit Christchurch city in New Zealand, no death

The New Zealand government declared a state of emergency after an earthquake hit the country’s second biggest city, Christchurch, on Saturday, snapping power and water lines and damaging roads and buildings.

There has been no report of any immediate casualty though two men have been hospitalised with serious injuries.

Thousands of buildings tumbled and cars were crushed blocking roads as the earth heaved.

The quake had a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 10 km (6 miles), hitting the South Island city and a large surrounding area of farms at around 4.35 a.m. local time (1635 GMT Friday).

“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, adding that he feared that the cost to the economy would be substantial.

Prime Minister John Key, who is heading to the city, said it would take quite sometime before the actual damage was worked out.