The capital is coming to terms with the financial impact of the week's devastating earthquakes.

A string of motorists is stranded on State Highway 2 as authorities across the Wellington region prepare for evacuations.

Tourism leaders fear the image of New Zealand as a destination will be harmed by the earthquakes.

There are reports that a floor in Statistics House has pancaked onto the one below. Staff won't be returning for up to a year.

Little crime in Kaikoura overnight, but police now gearing up for traffic issues further north as weather worsens.

On an impulse, Jamie Brosnahan and Jonathon O'Neill spent Sunday night in Kaikoura. The Rotorua couple were heading for Hanmer Springs

Wellington CBD is open for business, but workers should check with their employers before heading into town for work.

Two men armed with guns who tried to rob a shop were chased from the scene by a woman wielding a broom handle.

A 100-year-old woman pulled alive from the rubble of her farmhouse had lived on the homestead for 64 years. Margaret Edgar was asleep

A search is underway for six kayakers after kayaks and other gear was found abandoned on the flooded Clarence River just before 5pm. A

People forced out of their homes and hotels in Wellington following this morning's severe 7.5 earthquake have all found somewhere to go.

Images are starting to come out of Kaikoura where widespread damage and one death has occurred.

The dog was spotted by a rescue helicopter on Saturday morning after going over the top of the hill on Tuesday.

A man is dead after an incident in Whanganui.

Some of the victims of the Croydon tram disaster were decapitated, say witnesses.

Emergency services confirm an elderly man who fell into a causeway has died.

A truck carrying an estimated 5700 litres of bitumen crashed between Feilding and Halcombe this morning.

A man in his 40s has died and another is in a serious condition after an ammonia gas leak at a Carlsberg factory.

The body of a woman killed while crossing the road was left lying on the road for three hours after her death.

A Fire Service spokesman said the fire in Napier was contained fairly quickly.

An off-duty police officer discovered a motorcyclist killed in a crash in the Lindis Pass, Central Otago yesterday.

Initial fears people may be inside soon passed.

A motorcyclist has been killed in an accident on the Lindis Pass Tarras Rd in the South Island. A police spokeswoman said the accident

Using paint and rocks, a woman deserted on an Auckland island for three nights wrote "Help me" on the beach.

Emergency services are at the scene of a serious house fire in South Auckland.

The final moments of a fire brigade's fishing competition fundraiser were cut short when the call for help went out.

A 20-year-old male is in a serious condition after a ride on mower rolled on Waiheke Island. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter is on

Firefighters have contained a "suspicious" bush fire in Northland which at its peak threatened 30 homes.

A Fire Service spokesman said there are four fire crews at the scene, and they arrived just before 4.30pm.

Passengers have been escorted off a plane at Christchurch International Airport as police investigate a potential bomb scare.