A catastrophic volcanic eruption in Auckland's industrial heart could have an economic impact of up to $10 billion in the first year.

A lack of medical facilities is heightening the crisis for people in quake-ravaged Nepal, said New Zealand aid agency MEND.

A fifth person has died as a result of an extreme downpour and flash flooding in southeast Queensland.

Three New Zealanders thought to have been missing in Nepal have contacted their families to let them know they're safe, as three remain unaccounted for.

Kiwi backpacker Doran Graham spent more than three hours smashing through concrete and moving debris to help rescue a man trapped under rubble in Nepal.

The full scale of the devastation in Nepal is only just beginning to come to light leaving the country facing a host of challenges.

Acting Prime Minister Bill English told Parliament that New Zealand stood with the international community in readiness to help.

The number of New Zealanders unaccounted for in Nepal is down to single figures, Foreign Minister Murray McCully says.

Hundreds of climbers remained trapped on Everest yesterday as rescue teams raced to mount an evacuation before supplies run out.

Three days after the deadly earthquake that claimed more than 3700 lives, several New Zealand families continue to wait for news of their loved ones.

Hundreds of thousands of people spent a second night out of doors in Kathmandu last night as severe aftershocks continued to terrify people.

When Nichola Ireland saw TV news reports of the devastation in Nepal, she feared the worst.

The Government is promising at least $1 million in aid to help Nepal following the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the mountainous country.

The big earthquake that rocked Nepal was another violent by-product of an ancient, geological scrum between two giant land masses.

A World Vision staffer has told about the scenes in Nepal following the devastating earthquake.

A week on from Cyclone Pam some sense of normality has returned - at least in the capital, Port Vila.

The deputy chairman of Vanuatu's natural disaster committee has launched a stinging attack on NGOs in the cyclone-struck nation.

New Zealand aid worker Andrew Finlay takes Kirsty Johnston around the island of Tanna, where the destruction is wholesale.

The Syrian conflict is one of several emergencies World Vision is responding to.

The threat of disease from dirty water has affected "absolutely everybody" in Vanuatu in the wake of Cyclone Pam.

A state of emergency remains in place in the Chatham Islands, where ex-cyclone Pam is still causing rough weather.

The first aid planes arrived to find scenes of "utter destruction" on the Vanuatu island of Tanna, where residents are in desperate need of emergency supplies.

Desperate villagers on an outlying cyclone-flattened Vanuatu island have marked out a "H" for help to attract the attention of planes flying over.

The first aid planes arrived to find scenes of "utter destruction" on the Vanuatu island of Tanna, four days after taking a direct hit from Cyclone Pam.