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.

Taranaki was rocked by two large earthquakes in the early hours of New Year's Day.

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.

Lessons will be learned, future lives saved, but for families of Canterbury Television building earthquake victims there will never be closure.

A series of errors over 20 years led to the catastrophic collapse of the CTV building in the second major Christchurch quake, a Royal Commission has found.

Families of Canterbury Television building collapse victims have welcomed the findings of a royal commission into the building's collapse.

A strong earthquake struck the same Japanese coast devastated by last year's massive quake and tsunami, generating small waves but no immediate reports of heavy damage.

Uncompromising proposals to eliminate or strengthen earthquake-prone buildings could change the face of character areas such as Mt Eden's Dominion Rd.

All non-residential buildings and high-rise, multi-unit apartments in NZ will be assessed for earthquake risk and the results made public under new proposals.

High-tech cameras designed to probe collapsed buildings and search for signs of life failed on February 22 and have since been replaced, an inquest was told today.

The actions of an Urban Search and Rescue team which tried to get to survivors trapped in the rubble of the CTV building will come under more scrutiny today.

A woman trapped in the debris of the collapsed CTV building could hear her distraught husband shouting her name as he searched for her, an inquest was told.