Major Earthquake Hits New Zealand

6.3, shallow and close to Christchurch.

The Fire Service has confirmed that there have been deaths.

National Civil Defence Controller David Coetzee says the damage is worse than from the 4 September quake.

...Civil Defence Minister John Carter says the situation is very serious.

He says the emergency headquarters in the Beehive have been activated and the head of Civil Defence, John Hamilton, is on his way there.

Telecom says it is working to determine which services have been affected by the quake, and getting them restored as soon as possible.

Civil Defence is asking people stay off their cellphones to allow calls from injured or trapped people to be able to get through to emergency services.

They also are asking that if people are injured or trapped to keep trying on 111.

A couple of f-bombs in the video below, so content warning.

posted by DrewM. at 08:14 PM

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