Earthquakes hit Christchurch

Two strong earthquakes have hit Christchurch in New Zealand, just 10 months after the city was struck by a major quake.

The airport was closed temporarily, power supplies were cut and some buildings were damaged.

Dozens of people suffered minor injuries and 19 were admitted to hospital.

According to reports, shoppers rushed from supermarkets as goods flew off shelves. Some shopping centres were evacuated.

Residents are being warned to brace themselves for more aftershocks into the Christmas holiday period.

The city is still recovering from an earthquake in February which left 182 people dead and destroyed much of the downtown area, causing -£9.9bn in economic losses.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told the Newstalk ZB radio network: -¬---Psychologically this is a tough one. People are outside buildings on streets weeping, I'm told. You can just sense the sense of 'not again, how much longer'.-¬~


by Bev Fearis

Friday, December 23, 2011

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