A 6.3-magnitude earthquake ripped through Christchurch, New Zealand, on Tuesday afternoon.The quake struck shortly before 1 p.m Tuesday (7 p.m. Monday ET). It was followed by a series of aftershocks including a 5.6-magnitude aftershock about 15 minutes later.
 |
| Christchurch Cathedral before the deadly quake. |
The quake toppled the 147-year-old Christchurch Cathedral spire, ripped facades from buildings and sent survivors scrambling to a nearby park to get away from the falling structures and debris. It also forced the closing of the city's airport.
 |
| Christchurch Cathedral now! |
Christchurch police told TVNZ that the city's 106-year-old Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was badly damaged, and a Herald reporter said that half the building had collapsed.Camera footage aired by the station showed piles of stone lying atop crushed chairs on the floor of the cathedral with light shining through the collapsed tower above the sanctuary. Four blocks away, crowds of earthquake survivors wandered about the city's 407-acre Hagley Park, where public safety officers had sent them to get away from crumbling facades and falling buildings.
The New Zealand Herald reported that the quake knocked out phone lines, including the city's emergency 111 service. The temblor cracked roads -- in some cases lifting them as much as a meter (1 yard) -- and broke water mains, flooding several streets. TVNZ reported that the earthquake also left 80 percent of the city without power.
As city rescue services scrambled to recover injured people from the wreckage, the city ran out of ambulances and was relying on private cars and trucks to transport victims, TVNZ reported.Without knowing how many people might still be trapped in the wreckage, officials refused how to estimate how many people were either killed or left injured by the quake.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment