Earthquake measuring 7.4 hits New Zealand

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (NEWS1130) - A strong earthquake with a 7.4 magnitude hit New Zealand in the early morning hours of Saturday local time, producing a series of powerful aftershocks.

The quake was centred 55 kilometers north-west of Christchurch, and was 12 km deep, but there was no immediate tsunami warnings. There is massive damage in Christchurch, where roads have buckled and pieces have fallen off buildings. Power is also out in some parts of the South Island. A Christchurch hospital has treated two men with serious injuries and a number of people with minor injuries.

Chris Foster is a reporter for Radio-Live in Auckland. He says no one has died, but there is a lot of damage. "A lot of broken windows, items thrown off shelves, TVs falling over, toppled chimneys, power and water services disrupted, a lot of distressed elderly people and children, a lot of people freaked out... and of course emergency services are absolutely stretched to the limit at the moment."

Paula May lives in Christchurch and says the shaker left them out of breath. "We were upstairs in an old wooden 1920's home and it was shaking. I've got three small children. It was the scariest thing... I mean, we've got stuff down all over our house, but we are alive."

Police say it's "very unsafe'' to be out and about after they have received reports of looting of some damaged shops.

Christchurch is on the east coast of the South Island, and is New Zealand's second largest city with a population of almost 400,000 people.