The Canterbury earthquake will be the most costly natural disaster NZ has faced, John Key said today as the Govt announced new measures to deal with rebuilding ruined homes.

The Government has announced details of legislation to be pushed through Parliament to help speed up the recovery process in quake-devastated Canterbury.

Christchurch's waterways have become contaminated with sewerage and wastewater due to infrastructure damage.

Several Christchurch hotels have slashed room rates in the wake of Christchurch's "horrendous" magnitude 7.1 quake, with one hotel chief saying everybody needed to "chip in".

E. Coli has been found in water from Kaiapoi, reinforcing the need for residents to boil their water after last week's earthquake.

The Govt says it will not know how big its bill for the Canterbury earthquake will be until its Recovery Commission has drafted a recovery plan.

In a disaster, cats head for the hills, but dogs stick around, according to SPCA figures out today.

Most Canterbury schools today reopened after the September 4 magnitude 7.1 earthquake, but aftershocks continue.

Gerry Brownlee is having to deal with his own badly damaged house as he works on the Govt's earthquake reconstruction plan.

Dozens of people buying and selling homes in Christchurch face delays as buyers fail to finalise sales, forcing sellers to default on contracts.

Christchurch earthquake-shelter residents say they have had to deal with gangs, drug searches and theft as they enter their second week displaced from their homes.

Weary Canterbury farmers picking themselves up from days of earthquakes and aftershocks face new threats.

The Christchurch earthquake reinforces expectations the Reserve Bank will leave the OCR unchanged at 3pc on Thursday.

Owners of Christchurch historic buildings will be able to fight demolition rulings that their earthquake-damaged properties are dangerous and insanitary.

A big aftershock rocked Christchurch this morning. Read latest updates here.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says Christchurch will take years to return to normal.

Jim Anderton has announced he will stand down as MP for Wigram if he wins the Christchurch mayoralty, in light of the challenges presented by last week's earthquake.

About 400 people today gathered in Christchurch's Cathedral Square for the Cathedral's first mass since last week's earthquake.

A bewildered and pregnant Renee Rushton is living in a Christchurch holiday park after last week's earthquake.

As Christchurch tries to make sense of the earthquake destruction, a child questions how much 'braveness' she has left.