Giving building owners 10 years to strengthen earthquake-prone buildings would amount to an "execution order" for many heritage buildings, says the Auckland Council.

A tsunami advisory for New Zealand has been cancelled, seven hours after an 8-magnitude earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands today.

It's time for a dose of fatalism and some common sense when it comes to dealing with earthquake-prone buildings across New Zealand in the wake of the Christchurch quakes.

Peter Townsend, CEO of Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce on why business insurance is important.

Christchurch's Cindy Gibb made a deal with her husband - one day she'd be able to travel the world to places where nursing skills were in short supply and work.

The entrance of a European building products giant into the Christchurch rebuild market will increase competition in the industry.

Christchurch's first major tremor of the year today was the 11,000th aftershock since the deadly earthquake sequence started on September 4, 2010.

Kim Dotcom and a spate of natural disasters have been among the most popular topics with New Zealand Herald readers this year.

Three weeks before the ceremony and the [Olympic Stadium] was packed with thousands of people all doing things impressively.

The aftershocks have all but stopped, but few in Christchurch dare mention the easing of the earth's fury.

Wellingtonians were shaken awake by a magnitude 3.8 earthquake early this morning.

The manager of Stadium Southland says there are no concerns with the construction of the new $35 million arena, which is designed by Alan Reay whose firm designed Christchurch's CTV building.

The three main protagonists highlighted in a royal commission report into the CTV disaster have gone to ground today.

The Christchurch firm that designed the ill-fated CTV office block may have built similar buildings that the council does not know about and have since gone unchecked, officials admitted today.

Auckland builder George Levick expects tougher new seismic standards to be a big boost to the construction sector.

Families and friends of the 115 people killed in the February 2011 collapse of the CTV building are calling for legal action against those they feel are responsible.