Timaru has grown by 20 per cent as 7000 traumatised quake survivors shift down.

Jeff Sanft was on his way to meet his partner and two young daughters for lunch when the bus he was on was buried under falling debris.

Accommodation providers renting out homes for the Rugby World Cup are clinging to hope that the tournament will still be held in Christchurch.

After 218 hours and nine minutes of desperate searching, hope of finding any survivors among the rubble of downtown Christchurch was officially extinguished.

Thousands of Christchurch schoolchildren have fled the quake-stricken city and are now attending schools across the country.

Surrounded by her children in the garage of their Hampshire St home in the Christchurch suburb of Aranui, Mafutaga Manuleleua still feels unloved.

Searchers are close to entering the collapsed spire of Christchurch Cathedral, where up to 22 people are believed to have been killed during last week's 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Christchurch.

The thoughts of everyone should be with the families of the Christchurch earthquake victims following the change in the search focus today to recovering bodies, says an emotional mayor, Bob Parker.

John Key says a national memorial service will allow all NZers to mourn, with details of the service to be announced early next week.

Bus driver Andrew Craig helped all the passengers off his bus, crushed by debris from a fallen building, before he got out himself, mourners at his funeral were told today.

The Government's budget in May will show the cost of the Christchurch earthquake, Prime Minister John Key says.

A funeral service was held this afternoon to celebrate the life of Christchurch quake victim Jeff Pelesa Sanft.

In response to the tragic earthquake in Christchurch on Tuesday, several events across New Zealand have been organised to raise money for relief funds.

Christchurch is "utterly" committed to holding its Rugby World Cup matches, and its citizens "will be far from pleased if they miss out on an event that has taken on a different meaning", Mayor Bob Parker said this morning.

More than a week after the devastating earthquake police are still treating the situation as a rescue mission.

The two buildings that claimed the greatest number of lives in the earthquake were built on soft soil.