Politicians swooped into earthquake-ravaged Christchurch last night, visiting a shelter that descended into chaos at John Key's visit.

Follow the developing situation on day four of the Christchurch earthquake disaster with nzherald.co.nz's latest updates.

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".

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.

John Key has cancelled his scheduled trip to Europe in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake.

Supermarket chains are counting millions of dollars in damaged stock as they ship in groceries to cover shortages and access lost to distribution centres.

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.