Tourists and locals arrived in Christchurch after long night aboard Navy ship.

84yo woman evacuates from retirement village - and is rescued by a motorist on a state highway. But where was everyone else?

Ten months after the destructive February 2011 earthquake, an independent review of the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management's response was undertaken.

The Government is being urged to fund an around-the-clock monitoring and warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis in New Zealand.

New aerial photos show there is much work to be done after Monday's 7.8 quake.

Acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says the cost of the earthquakes was still to emerge, but it would be in the billions of dollars.

Civil Defence aims to rescue 600 stranded tourists from Kaikoura today.

Helicopters from US and Malaysia will help out in Kaikoura, says PM John Key.

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

The HMNZS Canterbury is expected to arrive in Kaikoura tomorrow.

The evacuation, via sea, of tourists stranded in Kaikoura is still a day away.

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

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

Mark Fletcher was driving a 50-tonne truck towards Wellington when he found himself struggling to keep it in a straight line. "I

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

Many people evacuated from Kaiapoi due to the tsunami risk have hunkered down in their vehicles at the Pak n'Save carpark in Rangiora.

People who usually work in central Wellington are strongly urged to stay home today following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake.

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

A Kiwi firefighter will help train Syria's 'White Helmet' civil defence workers who help in the aftermath of missile strikes and attacks.

A thunderstorm warning remains in place as violent electrical storms pounded Auckland overnight leaving many without power for hours.

The Civil Defence response to this morning's 7.1 magnitude earthquake will be reviewed to see if anything could have been done differently.

Scientists say it would have been impossible to predict today's earthquake even though a tremor a day earlier was probably a foreshock.

A large low pressure system from the Tasman Sea is moving slowly across northern New Zealand during the next few days.

Researchers get grant to find out how much notice there will be if volcano field becomes active.

A New Zealander living in Santiago said she was having afternoon tea with friends when the quake hit.

While the floods that swamped Whanganui appeared devastating enough from aerial pictures, the view from space has offered another perspective altogether.

Wellington's wild weather has claimed the life of an elderly man, whose car became submerged as raging floodwaters rose across the area.

Having military deaths only investigated in-house raises suspicions that this is a convenient way of closing down investigation and criticism - Labour.

A severe tropical cyclone, which may become a supercyclone, could be down-graded before it reaches NZ, but warnings are still being issued for residents to be prepared.