‘Up to 200 may still be trapped in buildings'WELLINGTON: A strong earthquake killed at least 65 people in New Zealand's second-biggest city of Christchurch Tuesday, with more casualties expected as rescuers worked into the night to find scores of people trapped inside collapsed buildings. It was the second quake to hit the city of almost 400,000 people in five months, and New Zealand's most deadly natural disaster for 80 years. “We may well be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day...The death toll I have at the moment is 65 and that may rise,” said New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who had flown to his home town of Christchurch, where he still has family. The 6.3 magnitude quake struck at lunchtime, when streets and shops thronged with people and offices were still occupied. Rescuers, working under lights in rain, focused on two collapsed buildings: a financial-services office block whose four stories pancaked on top of each other, and a TV building which also housed an English-language school. Twelve Japanese students at the school were believed to be missing, an official in Japan told Reuters. Trapped survivors could be heard shouting out to rescuers from the TV building. Local media say as many as a dozen or more people could still be inside. Relatives of those feared trapped kept a vigil outside the building as rain began to fall. A woman freed from a collapsed building said she had waited for six hours for rescuers to reach her after the quake, which was followed by at least 20 aftershocks. Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker described the city, a historic tourist town popular with overseas students, as a war zone. He told local radio that up to 200 could be trapped in buildings but later revised that estimate down to around 100 or so. “It is a tragedy that is unbelievable,” he said. It was the country's worst natural disaster since a 1931 quake in the North Island city of Napier which killed 256. Christchurch Hospital saw an influx of injured residents. “They are largely crushes and cuts types of injuries and chest pain as well,” said David Meates, head of the Canterbury Health Board. All army medical staff have been mobilised, while several hundred troops were helping with the rescue, officials said. Christchurch has been described as a little piece of England. It has an iconic cathedral, now largely destroyed, and a river called the Avon. It had many historic stone buildings, and is popular with English-language students and also with tourists as a springboard for tours of the scenic South Island. Emergency shelters had also been set up in local schools and at a race course as night approached. The quake hit at 12:51 pm (2351 GMT Monday) at a depth of only 4 km, according to the US Geological Survey. __
