Tattoo apprentice Matthew Stuart McEachen (Matti) died as Southern Ink Tattoo in Manchester St came crashing to the ground.

Rescuers were last night coming under fire for pulling out of attempts to get to people trapped in the CTV building. The search was abandoned yesterday after police said they were "100 per cent sure" there were no survivors.

At least 14 were still trapped and facing a second cold and lonely night in the mangled PGG building.

Jaime Gilbert was running for his life from the bar he worked in when he became trapped under rubble.

Christchurch hospitals are busy but coping as patient numbers swell from the earthquake.

Murray John Wood's day job was managing director of Canterbury Television. But outside his office he would often be found hammering the keys of his piano around the Garden City.

The Crusaders early this morning withdrew from their Super 15 match against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.

Bear Grylls, extreme adventurer, is in New Zealand and has some survival tips for earthquake victims.

It's only when you start walking the streets of Lyttelton that the real extent of the damage becomes obvious.

Seaweed cuisine is enjoying a wave of popularity worldwide.

Jeff Pelesa Sanft, 32, was travelling on a bus in Christchurch's city centre when the earthquake struck.

We assembled outside, a bit dazed and struck by what we could see downtown - dust and collapsed buildings.

Philip John McDonald (Phil), 57, an accountant with Leech and Partners, was working at the firm's offices in the Pyne Gould Corporation building in Cambridge Terrace when the earthquake struck.

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.

Aaron Waine's relief at being reunited with his wife turned to horror when he realised a building she had seen collapse was where his mother, Susan Chuter, 51, worked.

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.