‘Multiple Deaths’ Reported In Christchurch,New Zealand 6.3 Magnitude Earthquake…Residents Report There Are Bodies Lying In The Streets!!!(Video)

A 6.3-magnitude quake hit the city of Christchurch,New Zealand on Tuesday, collapsing buildings, crushing buses, breaking up  sidewalks,cracking roads,splitting and trapping many people inside toppled structures.(BBC)

The 6.3 earthquake hit at a depth of 5 km and centred 10 km south-east of the city of Christchurch. It struck at 12:51pm mid-day during the height of a busy weekday.(Video)

There are reports of many injuries, and unfortunately, multiple deaths.(CNN)

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key

The Prime Minister John Key says 65 people have been confirmed dead, with Civil Defence reporting 40 plus casualties at Christchurch Hospital.(Source)

Some people were stuck in office towers and firefighters climbed extension ladders to pluck people trapped on roofs to safety.(Source)

A crane lifted a team of rescuers on a platform to one group of survivors in a high-rise. Plumes of gray smoke drifted into the air at several points around the city from fires burning in the rubble.(Huffpo)

Police have reported that at least one office building housing 200 workers had collapsed, while Christchurch Cathedral’s spire tumbled to the ground below.(ABC)

Residents are reporting bodies lying in the streets of Christchurch and that many  fatalities had been reported at several locations including one in which two buses had been crushed by falling buildings.(Source)

One resident stated to the media…”We’ve had friends in town call us and say there are just bodies lying around; lots of dead bodies outside shops just lying there just covered in bricks”…(Source)

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker has declared a state of emergency and stated…”Everybody needs to understand that this is going to be a very black day for this severely shaken city”…(Source)

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English ordered people to evacuate the city center. Troops were deployed to help people get out and to throw up a security cordon around the stricken area.(Source)

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English

Lyttleton,New Zealand, the epicenter of the earthquake, has sustained serious damage and there are reports from the scene that 60 percent of Lyttleton has been virtually demolished where hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered as sirens blared throughout the city.

The epicenter of the quake was located in the “worst possible location” for city residents, New Zealand’s GeoNet Center data manager Kevin Fenaughty told the media.(MSNBC-Photoblog)

Recently on Sept. 4 last year, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the same area,damaged 100,000 homes, costing New Zealand 3 billion dollars in damage to its infrastructure, but no one was killed.(Source)

Christchurch Cathedral before the quake....

Christchurch Cathedral after the earthquake...

At the time, it was the most destructive quake to hit New Zealand in 80 years.(Source)

As the reports on the fatalities and damage comes in and are mounting, today’s Christchurch earthquake  already is shaping up to be the worst disaster in New Zealand history.(Source)

The earthquake today in Christchurch, the country’s second-largest city, ripped open a new 11ft fault-line in the Earth’s surface.(Source)

 

Christchurh,NZ earthquake 2011

For the latest news on this disaster…

NZ Herald

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