State of emergency Announced in New Zealand after quake
A state of emergency was announced in New Zealand’s second largest city Christchurch when a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit before dawn on Saturday, which caused widespread damage.
Terrified residents left their homes, only to discover that roads were blocked by the facades of buildings which crashed down and crushed parked vehicles. Roads were littered with glass.
There were gas leaks, ruptured water and sewerage mains, collapsed bridges and cuts to electricity supplies.
Reportedly, two people were seriously injured, however, Civil Defense officials said that had the quake hit in daylight, when there would have been thousands of people on the streets, the toll of injuries could have been much worse.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said he was "horrified by the amount of damage" which daylight showed was considerably worse than first thought.
"We’ve decided to declare the state of emergency in the city. It just makes it a bit easier for us now to move people out of buildings if necessary, close streets down," Parker announced on national radio.
Aftershocks were happening, while electricity supplies were cut to about half of the city.
Meanwhile, Christchurch International Airport, the main international gateway to the South Island, has been closed and rail movement in the South Island has been halted in order for the facilities to be checked.
Photo source: National Geographic
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