Two heritage buildings in central Christchurch are likely to be demolished this afternoon due to quake damage, the city council says.

Christchurch blogger Mike Dickison on the 13 things he learned from the South Island's "big one".

View a map of the damage caused by Saturday's 7.1 magnitude earthquake and the ongoing aftershocks in Christchurch.

Welfare staff are unable to contact thousands of solo pensioners in Canterbury and the Government is urging anyone looking after them to get in touch.

Children traumatised after the Christchurch earthquake will get the same support as those in war-torn Afghanistan and quake ravaged Haiti.

Finance Minister Bill English has asked banks and the Inland Revenue Department to be flexible with Christchurch earthquake victims.

Christchurch tourism operators say there is some disruption from the earthquake but most are open for business.

If you only have a minute and you want today's need-to-know earthquake news at a glance, this is the page for you.

Aftershocks rocking Christchurch have damaged an earthquake welfare centre and forced its closure.

It's a bitter blow as Cantabrians toiling to clean up after Saturday's quake now face a potential shortage of Canterbury Draught beer.

The fault that ruptured the surface of Canterbury paddocks and produced the magnitude 7.1 earthquake has been quiet for at least 16,000 years.

Students are using social networking skills to pull together a volunteer army of more than 1300.

Large tracts of silty, low-lying land compounded the effects of the Christchurch earthquake, as whole streets were transformed from firm land to sludge.

As aftershocks continue in Canterbury, exhausted parents are pleading for help with children too terrified to be on their own.