Christchurch earthquake: Search squads focus on rewards, not risks
Their task is to enter highly restricted and prohibited areas, putting their lives on the line to save others.
Their task is to enter highly restricted and prohibited areas, putting their lives on the line to save others.
At least one Australian "family man" is among the Christchurch earthquake dead and the Australian government has warned the public to brace for more bad news.
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.
Fifteen CTV staff are believed to have died when their central Christchurch building collapsed after yesterday's magnitude 6.3 quake, CTV chairman Nick Smith says.
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.
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.
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.
Fletcher Construction says its residential repair programme in Canterbury as agent for the Earthquake Commission (EQC) is temporarily on hold.
Rescue personnel have been pulled back from the central city as the 26-storey Hotel Grand Chancellor building is on the verge of collapse.
Christchurch's Rolleston prison will be cleared to create beds for the influx of rescuers into the city.
A man who has more than a dozen close friends and colleagues missing in earthquake-devastated central Christchurch says all he can do is wait and hope they are still alive.
Track the aftershocks rattling Christchurch in the wake of the shallow magnitude 6.3 earthquake.
Information about what's been damaged in the aftermath of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake and where people can get help.
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Blue markers: Damage to infrastructure and buildings
Red markers: Closures and restricted areas
Yellow markers: Triage centre and welfare centre locations
Green markers: Water supplies and other services for residents
Purple markers: Operational ATMs and petrol stations
Pink markers: Supermarkets and schools that are open
Rescuers have recovered and identified 55 bodies and are yet to identify a further 20 bodies from yesterday's earthquake in Christchurch.
The Government has declared a national state of emergency after yesterday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says emergency cash grants will be made available for victims of yesterday's quake.
Cabinet will hold an emergency meeting at 9.30am to decide whether to declare a national state of emergency, Prime Minister John Key says.
Rescue workers are having to leave bodies in the streets of Christchurch as they focus on trying to save survivors of yesterday's devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
The official death toll from yesterday's earthquake in Christchurch has been revised to 38, but there are fears it could reach as high as 300 as rescuers uncover more bodies in the rubble.
Between the giant rubble littering the rain-drenched Colombo St, police pull another dead body and lay it down on a black tarpaulin.