A mercy mission into rural quake-hit Marlborough has led to donations for farming communities and offers of help.

A number of schools have been closed due to flooding, affecting some students due to sit exams after afternoon.

Our photographers and reporters share some of the images captured after yesterday's quakes.

The truck driver who narrowly escaped being buried in the quake won't be in the dog box for calling his boss before his partner.

Richie McCaw, who has been airlifting stranded tourists out of Kaikoura, says the devastation from the air looks "pretty crazy".

Marlborough Civil Defence may evacuate six more people from the Clarence River area this morning.

The Clarence River has burst its banks, with residents being told to move to high ground immediately, as aftershocks continue to rock the country.

Most schools will open tomorrow, following hundreds of closures after the quake.

Marlborough Mayor John Leggett says property damage appears to be more widely dispersed across the district than during the previous Seddon earthquakes.

Scholarship exams have been cancelled, but NCEA exams can go ahead in schools if they are not earthquake damaged, NZQA says.

Heavy rain and wind is forecast to batter the upper South Island and lower North Island this afternoon.

Primary responsibility for civil defence emergency management at a local level rests with your local council.

There are casualties following this morning's quakes, acting Civil Defence minister Gerry Brownlee says.

It's beginning to feel like summer in some parts of the country, with pohutukawa bursting into bloom. "People have been getting a

District health boards report bad stuff that happens to patients

Scott Watson has always claimed he is innocent of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope.

A man who says he was severely beaten for wearing a pink shirt has halted police investigations after he decided not to make a formal statement.

A group of Scott Watson supporters today began a series of marches to highlight their case that he is wrongly imprisoned for the Marlborough Sounds murders.

Changes undermine value of national bowel screening programme, expert says.

A man has been rescued by helicopter after his float plane crashed in the Marlborough Sounds this evening. The Nelson Marlborough

Despite law professor raising questions over perplexing Sounds double murder, convicted killer's father says "the system doesn't want to listen".

A tramper has been rescued from the bush after spending a cold and wet night high on Mt Stanley in the outer Marlborough Sounds.

A winemaker is hooked on pinot and the land where it's grown, writes Stephanie Holmes.

A housebus and sand-blasting shed have been extensively damaged by fire in Marlborough.

A woman who died after being hit by a car early on Sunday morning has been named by Marlborough Police.

With river levels rising, three women at the Thor Hut in the Kahurangi National Park were rescued by helicopter.

A 15-year-old mountain biker was winched to safety by a rescue helicopter yesterday.

Nigel Gately was arrested for breaching his parole conditions and is now in custody.

A convicted rapist now being sought by police had been commended for his post-release progress only months before when the parole board said it did not need to see him again.

The children of a boatie missing for more than two years have accepted it is more than likely that he is dead, an inquest has heard.