Welfare staff are unable to contact thousands of solo pensioners in Canterbury and the Government is urging anyone looking after them to get in touch.

Children traumatised after the Christchurch earthquake will get the same support as those in war-torn Afghanistan and quake ravaged Haiti.

Hawkes Bay and the Wairarapa have been hit by two quakes this morning but there have been no reports of damage.

Finance Minister Bill English has asked banks and the Inland Revenue Department to be flexible with Christchurch earthquake victims.

John Key has cancelled his scheduled trip to Europe in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake.

Supermarket chains are counting millions of dollars in damaged stock as they ship in groceries to cover shortages and access lost to distribution centres.

Christchurch tourism operators say there is some disruption from the earthquake but most are open for business.

Aftershocks rocking Christchurch have damaged an earthquake welfare centre and forced its closure.

All Black assistant coach Steve Hansen and his family face an uncertain future in their Tai Tapu home, after the Christchurch earthquake.

It's a bitter blow as Cantabrians toiling to clean up after Saturday's quake now face a potential shortage of Canterbury Draught beer.

Students are using social networking skills to pull together a volunteer army of more than 1300.

Large tracts of silty, low-lying land compounded the effects of the Christchurch earthquake, as whole streets were transformed from firm land to sludge.

As aftershocks continue in Canterbury, exhausted parents are pleading for help with children too terrified to be on their own.

Devastated shop owners in Christchurch had to flee as aftershocks interrupted their damage checks.

The growing number of sightseers in central Christchurch are putting themselves and others in danger, say police.

Thousands of Canterbury residents will probably have to keep boiling water until the end of the week to minimise the risk of disease after Saturday's earthquake.