John Key has met people "full of fear" over the fate of missing family members after Tuesday's Christchurch quake.

Police believe up to 22 bodies are trapped within the devastated Cathedral and its spire.

The official death toll for the Christchurch earthquake has risen to 145 this evening and is expected to increase. Police are gravely concerned for more than 200 missing people.

Eight-month-old Jayden Harris died when a 21-inch television fell from a chest of drawers during the earthquake, killing him instantly.

'Do you think Ma has a cut on his head?' This from the little voice beside me, as I stared in incredulous horror at the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake.

"Entire blocks" of the Christchurch CBD will need to be demolished in the wake of the earthquake, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says.

The death toll from the Christchurch earthquake now stands at 123 and is expected to rise further today, police say.

There are many ways that you can help in the wake of yesterday's devastating Christchurch earthquake.

A historic 155-year-old Christchurch mansion was reduced to a pile of dust and splintered wood today while the owner and his family looked on with glassy eyes.

Ann Bodkin kept up hope during her 26 hours entombed in the PGC building by thinking over and over 'I'm alive. I'm okay'.

Amid the tragedy and debris it feels harsh to talk about economics and daunting to talk about getting Christchurch back to business.

The doctors who amputated a man's legs to save him from almost certain death worked in the dark.

Looking at what remains of the six-storey building I can't believe my eyes as the first survivor is pulled out.