Powerful earthquake shakes New Zealand, two killed

WELLINGTON,  (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake rocked New Zealand yesterday killing at least two people, damaging roads and buildings, and prompting a tsunami warning that sent thousands fleeing to higher ground.

Emergency response teams were flying by helicopter to the region at the epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake, some 91 km (57 miles) northeast of Christchurch in the South Island, amid reports of injuries and collapsed buildings.

Hundreds of aftershocks, the strongest measuring 6.1 magnitude, continued to shake the country well into mid-morning, after the initial quake struck minutes after midnight.

Powerlines and telecommunications were down, and daylight revealed sizeable cracks in roads and damage to infrastructure.

“It was the most significant shock I can remember in Wellington,” Prime Minister John Key told reporters at a dawn news conference from the parliament’s underground bunker in the capital city. “There will be quite major costs around roads and infrastructure.”

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pledged assistance.

The first tremor struck just 23 km (14 miles) deep, jolting many from their sleep and raising memories of the 6.3 magnitude Christchurch quake in 2011, which killed 185 people. New Zealand’s Geonet measured Monday’s quake at magnitude 7.5, while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 7.8.

But a tsunami warning that led to mass evacuations was downgraded after large swells hit Wellington, in the North Island, and Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city.

New Zealand lies in the seismically active “Ring of Fire”, a 40,000 km arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Ocean. Around 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur within this region.