Widespread damage in NZ quake
2010-09-03 20:31
Wellington - A major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit New Zealand, 30km west of Christchurch early on Saturday morning, causing no casualties but widespread reports of damage, authorities said.
The quake, which had a depth of 33kms, was felt throughout much of the South Island and southern parts of the North Island, but did not trigger a tsunami.
Police in Christchurch, New Zealand's second-largest city with a population of about 342 000 people, said there were many reports of broken windows, items thrown off shelves, toppled chimneys, with power and water services disrupted.
Radio New Zealand reported that the quake was felt as a long rolling motion lasting up to 40 seconds. The area was continuing to feel aftershocks.
New Zealand scientists record around 14 000 earthquakes a year, of which around 20 top magnitude 5.0.
The last fatal earthquake in the geologically active country, caught between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, was in 1968 when an earthquake measuring 7.1 killed three people on the South Island's West Coast.