All non-residential buildings and high-rise, multi-unit apartments in NZ will be assessed for earthquake risk and the results made public under new proposals.

High-tech cameras designed to probe collapsed buildings and search for signs of life failed on February 22 and have since been replaced, an inquest was told today.

The actions of an Urban Search and Rescue team which tried to get to survivors trapped in the rubble of the CTV building will come under more scrutiny today.

A woman trapped in the debris of the collapsed CTV building could hear her distraught husband shouting her name as he searched for her, an inquest was told.

Srecko 'Alec' Cvetanov details the communication he had with his wife, Dr Tamara Cvetanova, in the passing hours and lead up to her death, as she was trapped in the debris of the collapsed CTV building following the deadly February 22 quake.

The eastern suburbs red zone is quickly becoming a huge wasteland as houses disappear and nature takes over.

Thousands of people have disappeared from Christchurch's earthquake-smashed eastern suburbs. And so it seems have wheelie bins.

A unique quick-fire demolition of the eight-storey URS House in Christchurch. The building owners have chosen to demolish it rather than repair, and they are managing the demolition works privately. That work plan will see the former office block leveled in under 48 hours by two separate crews using two high-reach excavators.

This video is a remembrance of how Christchurch looked, and of lives that have changed forever. It was filmed by Lukas Kaupenjohann over two years ago, just before earthquakes ravaged the city. The exchange student filmed with friends taking more than 10.000 photos to make the movie; the stills were shot in about 2 weeks and the post production took him about one month. Courtesy of Lukas Kaupenjohann.

Fulton Hogan has suffered an 89 per cent drop in annual profit which its departing chairman described as "disappointing and totally unacceptable".

A protest called Bare Your Bum for Brighton has been organised by a fed-up Christchurch businessman who says the city council has neglected the beachside suburb for too long.

The Christchurch earthquakes taught smaller enterprises the value of insurance, and being ready when disaster strikes, writes Diana Clement.

A High Court judge has stepped in to halt the demolition of the earthquake-crippled Christ Church Cathedral.

A man who wanted to be a police officer ended up on the wrong end of the law when he was caught at a checkpoint with firearms, police uniforms and equipment.

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker doesn't pull any punches in a personal account of the earthquakes that rocked his city.

A search and rescue expert used Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack rescue techniques to take control of the CTV Building collapse site, an inquest heard today.

Stressed Christchurch council office workers will get an extra day's paid holiday each month, but their colleagues helping rebuild the quake-damaged city won't be getting it.

A Fire Service has disagreed strongly with some earlier witnesses at the CTV inquest that there was confusion over leadership on February 22 last year.

Mainzeal has completed laying the slab which will be the base of the new Airforce Museum in Wigram, Chrictchurch. Until they move in it will be a pop up conference centre and help out other museums affected by the earthquakes.

Following a bus tour of the red zone the Archbishop of Canterbury says he is stunned by the scale of damage from the Christchurch earthquakes.

Search and rescue units were told to stop scouring the collapsed CTV Building's rubble for survivors within 24 hours of it coming down.