Photos are coming in of the devastation caused by today’s large earthquake, which occurred at 12.51pm in Christchurch

The dust cloud over the central city from damages buildings is reminiscent of September 2001 – advice from authorities is to stay OFF the roads and OFF the phone – these are the life lines…

People will be afraid and frightened…check on neighbours and people around you…

BE SAFE!!

More images here

There have been ‘multiple fatalities’ after a shallow 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch this afternoon caused buildings to collapse, police have confirmed.

Police said fatalities had been reported at several locations and that two buses had been crushed by falling buildings.

Christchurch resident Jane Smith, who works in the central city, told the Herald a work colleague had just returned from helping rescue efforts after a building facade had collapsed on a bus on Colombo St.

“There’s people dead. He was pulling them out of a bus. Colombo St is completely munted.”

Police said there were reports of fires in buildings in the central city and of people being trapped.

All available police staff were helping with the rescue operation and the Defence Force had been called in to assist.

Triage centres have been established for the injured at Latimer Square in the central city, Spotlight Mall in Sydenham and Sanitarium in Papanui.

Shallow quake

GNS Science said the quake was centred at Lyttelton at a depth of 5km at 12.51pm.

GNS said the earthquake would have caused more damage than the original 7.1 earthquake on September 4 because of its shallow depth.

Its data centre manager Kevin Fenaughty said residents said the quake’s epicentre was located in the “worst possible location” for the city.

“It’s a nightmare. A lot of people were just getting back on their feet after the original quake.”

Another earthquake of 4.5 struck at 1.21pm, 10 km east of Diamond Harbour.

Streets flooded

Herald reporter Jarrod Booker said the shake lasted approximately a minute and was extremely violent – rocking buildings back and forth.

He said people had left buildings and were out on the streets where tarmac had cracked and water mains had burst, causing extensive flooding.

Tuam Street had become a river as water poured from ruptures in the road and was impassable in places.

The whole central city was in grid lock as people tried to evacuate central businesses to check their homes, Jarrod Booker said.

Most traffic lights are out and cars were also having to negotiate around hordes of people on foot.

Jarrod Booker said that he could hear sirens but that it would be difficult for emergency services to access the city because of the gridlock.

“Even sitting in a car you can feel continual shaking on a smaller scale than the original quake,” he said.

‘Great confusion’

Mayor Bob Parker said he was “thrown quite a distance” by the earthquake.

“That was, in the city central anyway, as violent as the one that happened on the 4th of September,” he told Radio New Zealand.

Mr Parker said there were scenes of “great confusion” on the streets, also saying the roads were jammed as vehicles sought to get out of the central city.

“I know of injuries in my building and there are unconfirmed reports of serious injuries in the city.”

Mr Parker did not know the extent of damage to the city’s infrastructure, but advised people not to drink the water supply.

“We’ve been through this before this once, we now need to think we did at that time.”

Buildings collapsed

Jarrod Booker said Christchurch’s historic cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street had half collapsed, with the remaining part of the building filled with cracks.

There was huge damage to other older buildings with large amounts of debris falling to the ground, he said.

He said the carpark at the Christchurch Star had turned into a river with huge cracks and that the roads had risen in areas.

People were comforting people outside amid a general state of shock as they tried to absorb what had happened, he said.

Radio New Zealand reported widespread damage to the city centre, with a church on Durham St collapsed and concrete lifted by up to a metre.

A Newstalk ZB reporter in Christchurch said liquefaction was spewing out of the ground at St Albans High School.

School kids had to be removed from the fields with liquefaction also spewing from the tennis courts.

Civil Defence response

Civil Defence spokesman Vince Cholewa said the National Crisis Centre had been activated and was preparing the Government response.

“The quake is significantly smaller than the previous Christchurch earthquake, however it was very shallow and might have been very close to the centre of the city,” he said.

Mr Cholewa was not aware of any casualties or the extent of the damage.

“We are still getting a picture of what has happened and we are aware of the details.”

Phone lines are down and calls are not being connected to emergency services. Telecom said it is working to understand which services have been affected by the earthquake and get these restored as soon as possible.

Christchurch Airport has been closed.

Today’s quake was shallower and closer to Christchurch than the original Darfield quake, which took place 30km west of the city at a depth of 33kms.

Civil Defence advice

The Civil Defence has issued the following advisory:

Check yourself first for injuries and get first aid if necessary before helping injured or trapped persons.

Assess your home or workplace for damage. If the building appears unsafe get everyone out. Use the stairs, not an elevator and when outside, watch out for fallen power lines or broken gas lines. Stay out of damaged areas.

Look for and extinguish small fires if it is safe to do so. Fire is a significant hazard following earthquakes.

Listen to the radio for updated emergency information and instructions.

Do not overload phone lines with non-emergency calls.

Help people who require special assistance – infants, elderly people, those without transportation, families who may need additional help, people with disabilities, and the people who care for them.

Detailed safety advice will come from local authorities and emergency services in the area. People should act on it promptly. MCDEM, local civil defence authorities and scientific advisors are closely monitoring the situation.

I hadn’t head anything on this until Carmen called to tell me, hadn’t even felt the shake although it was apparently felt in Waiouru on the other side of the mountain…unlike the stronger but deeper 7.1 that hit in September, today’s quake (think it is well beyond a ‘shake’) hit during a busy midday week day…the Cathedral has definitely been seriously damaged….

I thought the Prime Minister spoke well when he broke the news to the House and it looks like all the instruments of national power are swinging into action…that probably sounds a little trite but they have had quite a bit if for real practice in the last six months and Kiwis are fast learners…