Some residents in the earthquake zone may be without power until the end of the week, says lines company Orion.

"It's essentially a ghost town. You can see utter devastation," said Prime Minister John Key.

The Herald's photographers have captured amazing scenes from the aftermath of September 4's magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

Audrey Young visits one of Christchurch's oldest houses, and finds it still standing.

Weather analyst Philip Duncan gives his account of the Christchurch earthquake.

Readers' photos from the aftermath of Saturday's magnitude 7.1 quake. Click here to send us your pictures and video

"It was like a giant had picked up our house and was just shaking it, shaking and shaking," said one resident.

They were partying, working, sleeping - then came 90 minutes of terror they will never forget. This is their story.

The 7.1 magnitude tremor that shook the South Island caused the most damage since the 1931 earthquake that flattened Napier.

The displaced of Christchurch were last night in makeshift shelters across the city, fearful of waking up again to more violent tremors.

A formal curfew is now officially in place in the Christchurch central business district until 7am and those who breach it may be arrested, say police.

Geologists say today's earthquake had an epicentre 10km south-east of Darfield, but so far they have not been able to link it to a known fault line.

Prime Minister John Key has completed a flyover of Christchurch in order to assess the damage wreaked by this morning's earthquake.

Craters opened up at a Kaiapoi motorcamp during this morning's earthquake, with caravans sinking up to their axles.

The cost of damage from today's devastating quake could be as much as $2 billion, Earthquake Commission chief executive Ian Simpson says.

Services and infrastructure in Christchurch have been seriously affected by this morning's quake. Here is the current situation.

Read the facts about this morning's quake, Christchurch's faultlines and the many aftershocks that have rocked the city.

An historic pub in the South Canterbury town of Temuka has been badly damaged by today's earthquake and the proprietor is unsure when it will reopen.

It struck in the wee small hours, a rumbling roar and intense swaying that lasted for the best part of a minute.