Breaking news 65 killed in ANOTHER Christchurch quake

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake ripped through Christchurch in New Zealand on Tuesday at 1pm killing at least 65 people (death toll expected to rise). The quake was then followed by a series of aftershocks measuring over 5 on the Richter scale which left the city on edge.

Impacts
It is early to tell the full extent of the impacts but so far there are:

1. Phone lines down
2. Cracked roads, raised in 1m in parts
3. 80% of the city without power
4. Water mains burst causing floods in some streets
5. Many buildings have collapsed
6. Fires in some parts of the city

This follows the recent 7.1 earthquake in September where just one person was killed.

Why more dead in this 6.3 than the September 7.1?

• The focus in this earthquake was much more close to the surface and the epicentre hit the city centre.
• The earthquake struck at 1pm when most people were at work in the city whereas the September earthquake struck at dawn when many were in their beds.

Some of our staff her at NCBIS have friends and family living in Christchurch so our thoughts are with them at this time.