http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/8573688/Thousands-without-power-after-Christchurch-hit-by-earthquakes.html
Tens of thousands of people were spending a freezing night without power after Christchurch was shaken by a series of violent earthquakes.
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Officials expressed astonishment that no one was killed in the tremor Photo: GETTY
With temperatures plummeting under a clear winter sky, the Orion lines company warned more than 20,000 householders they would not be reconnected until at least Tuesday.
Residents were also being told to boil drinking water.
Christchurch Hospital said two of the people injured in the largest of the quakes, which measured magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale, were still seriously ill.
Another 44 people were treated in the hospital's emergency department, most of the injuries resulting from falling building materials.
Officials expressed astonishment that no one was killed in the tremor, the biggest aftershock so far of the 6.3 quake on February 22 in which 181 people died.
http://beta.news.yahoo.com/strong-quakes-again-rock-shaken-zealand-city-061423241.html
Damaged St. John the Baptist Church is seen following series of earthquakes that …
A worker inspects the damage at St. John the Baptist Church following series of earthquakes …
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Strong aftershocks rattled New Zealand's quake-devastated city of Christchurch again Monday, toppling one of the few buildings still standing downtown and sinking thousands of homes into darkness.
Bricks crashed down in the cordoned-off city center, where only workers have tread since it was devastated in February's major earthquake. About 200 people were there when the quakes struck Monday, and two were briefly trapped in a church. More than 40 people have been taken to hospitals with minor injuries from falling debris, the city council said.
"We are being enveloped with dust," Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told New Zealand's National Radio. "It is very, very scary."
All across the city, people fled buildings in panic when a 5.2-magnitude quake struck during lunchtime; just over an hour later, a 6.0 hit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Smaller quakes were also recorded.
Several buildings were damaged in the central city and suburbs.
"All the shops have fallen down," said Renee Murray, who works at a Domino's Pizza in a suburb. "Half of the roof has fallen in (but) they have not fully collapsed."
Thousands of aftershocks have followed the 6.3-magnitude quake that killed 181 people on Feb. 22. That tremor and its aftershocks have been very shallow, which along with proximity to the city, have made them very destructive. Monday's temblors were six miles (10 kilometers) deep, according to the USGS.
