Christchurch was shaken awake by a magnitude 3.5 earthquake this morning.

Post-earthquake demand for free legal service at Community Law Canterbury has skyrocketed, making the legal centre the biggest of its kind in the country.

The quake occurred at 5.19am local time (4.19am NZT), 287km southwest of Nuku'alofa, at a depth of 171km.

Meet the carboot lawyer who wings in and out of Christchurch with a huge caseload on behalf of desperate quake-struck homeowners.

A powerful earthquake struck the steep hills of China's southwestern Sichuan province, leaving over 150 people dead and more than 5,500 injured.

A major earthquake has flattened homes and offices on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border, rattling buildings as far away as New Delhi and Dubai and killing dozens of people, including 34 in one Pakistani town.

With the rebuilding of Christchurch gaining momentum, some engineering and construction firms are looking overseas for people with the skills they need.

The psychological impact of the Canterbury earthquake has been accepted by the Employment Court as a valid reason for a lawyer filing legal documents several weeks late.

Civil Defence officials say there could be up to 10,000 casualties when the Alpine Fault ruptures sometime in the next 50 years - and 1000 could be fatal.

A national building industry conference has been told that seismic fears are now dominating the sector.

Tsunami warning sirens that sounded across Auckland in a test-run at the weekend are not favoured by our national emergency agency.

Every time Steve Morris takes his two young daughters to the local beach, signs of tsunami danger surround him.

One of the finalists for the upcoming 2013 New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards, Aranz Geo, credits the Christchurch earthquakes.

As one of the world's most tsunami-threatened countries, New Zealand faces the triple menace of distant-source tsunami, regional tsunami and local-source tsunami.