Their task is to enter highly restricted and prohibited areas, putting their lives on the line to save others.

Cancer survivor Sam Struthers says that victory was nothing compared with surviving this week's earthquake.

Hope is fading for hundreds of people missing for a second night after the Christchurch earthquake.

Dozens are missing or confirmed dead in an earthquake that could have claimed as many as 300. Here are some of the stories of the victims.

Prime Minister John Key yesterday saw for himself the grim situation confronting earthquake survivors.

Images show how one of Christchurch's tallest buildings, the Hotel Grand Chancellor, is on the verge of collapse.

Yesterday's quake - the death toll for which stands at 75 - may prove to be NZ's worst natural disaster.

Police say more than 100 people may have been lost in Christchurch's quake-ravaged Canterbury TV building, which they say is "unsurvivable". The official toll from yesterday's devastating quake stands at 75.

View readers' images of the devastating Christchurch earthquake and its subsequent aftermath.

Heart-breaking images show friends and families of the victims of the 6.3 earthquake that rocked Christchurch on Tuesday.

Massive earthquake damage in Christchurch means Kirifi Mila, the New Zealand soldier killed in Afghanistan last week, will be buried in Hamilton without a formal military farewell from his army mates.

AMI Stadium, home to the Canterbury Crusaders has been hit hard by the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that recently struck Christchurch..

At least 14 people are missing from two companies in the Pyne Gould building in Christchurch tonight.

A woman trapped in rubble left a harrowing message for her son, in which she said she didn't think she would survive.

Declaring a national state of emergency is an option when a disaster or other event is or is likely to be of such severity that it is beyond the resources of the local Civil Defence groups.

Six people have today been arrested for theft and burglary in the quake-hit Christchurch CBD.

Police have abandoned all hope of finding survivors at the collapsed Canterbury TV building in central Christchurch, with a police chief saying he was "100 per cent" certain those trapped inside were dead.

All Christchurch AMI Insurance branches have been forced to close due to quake damage.

Search and rescue teams could continue looking for survivors for a second night following yesterday's Christchurch earthquake, Civil Defence national controller David Coetzee says.

There are genuine fears that the Crusaders will have to find a new home for the remainder of Super Rugby season.

In an emotional reunion, a woman trapped for more than 25 hours in a cramped, dark space in the destroyed PGG building has finally been rescued and reunited with her worried husband.