Christchurch is 75 dead, 300 missing : news update for today

At least 75 were killed and the toll expected to rise, while nearly 300 are still missing after the deadly earthquake that struck the city yesterday from New Zealand Christchurch 400,000 people, said Prime Minister John Key, has Bloomberg reported.

Already the names of 55 victims, while 20 still await identification of bodies recovered and hundreds of rescuers digging for people trapped under the rubble of buildings severely damaged by the earthquake of 6.3 magnitude - the deadliest in the country 80. In 1931, killed by the earthquake in Napier 256th

The Civil Defense Department official said the numbers of injuries is not yet available that many people are visiting emergency centers. More buildings may collapse as more aftershocks could occur.

Lifeguard Steve Barclay Television New Zealand said: "There are still rumors, people are still there. He's very meticulous. Just because someone is listening, does not mean that is one meter away."

7.1 magnitude earthquake occurred at 04:35 in September with minor injuries, while the earthquake took place yesterday at 12:00 to 12:51.

According geonet.org.nz caused more harm than tremors yesterday in September, because the epicenter was located just 10 km south of the city was flattened. In September epicenter of the quake was 55 km from the city and was also deeper.

The airport was reopened earlier today.

Sydney-based economist Katrina Ell said tremors were able to "condemn the New Zealand economy to another year of sluggish growth caused by forces beyond his control."
Feb. 23 (Reuters) - The earthquake that rocked Christchurch has killed at least 75 people the number would rise as rescuers comb through the rubble of buildings and replicas toppling the Grand Chancellor Hotel.

Fifty-five victims have been identified and recovered and 20 others are awaiting identification, said New Zealand Prime Minister John Key journalists today. Rescuers searched the rubble left by yesterday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake, the deadliest of the country in 80 years. TV pictures showed one side of the 26-story Grand Chancellor, the tallest building in Christchurch, cracks and crumbling under its own weight.

"Today all New Zealanders to take you in Christchurch," Key said in Wellington, while preparing to board a flight to the second largest city in New Zealand. "Many people have been killed. Families have lost loved ones. Comrades have lost their companions. "

New Zealand has declared a state of national emergency to coordinate assistance from outside the Christchurch area, according to the website of the Ministry of Civil Defence. While people continue to arrive in the screening centers and hospitals, has confirmed the casualties are not available.

Thirty copies of a magnitude of 4 to 6 were shaking felt since yesterday, the MoD said.

About 300 people are missing, possibly with some trapped in the buildings, the New Zealand police said. The Lord Chancellor has been evacuated, police said.

Trapped survivors

"There are 30 people, we are aware that there trapped alive in a few buildings, and there were a number of bodies removed," Aaron Gilmore, a member of the National Party of parliament, told Bloomberg Television.

Twenty-three Japanese students who were enrolled in college in the city of about 400,000 are among the missing, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said today. An Australian is among the dead, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today in Canberra.

Australia is sending 300 police and 140 rescue Australians to join the relief efforts. Japan sent an emergency team to rescue 70 people, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told parliament of his country.

The death toll from the earthquake, the strongest since September, when the city was shocked by the magnitude 7.0 temblor is the worst earthquake since the Napier earthquake in 1931 killed 256 employees yesterday sent fleeing into the streets full of broken glass, paper, bricks and broken concrete.

Damage to buildings

Damage to buildings in the center was higher than in September because the temblor was lower and more concentrated in just 10 km south-east of Christchurch geonet.org.nz. September 4 The quake was centered 55 km northwest of the city, and even deeper.

Yesterday's temblor struck 00:51 local time, lunch break, while September 04:35 temblor struck, and claimed no lives.

The 17-story building Forsyth Barr Ltd. in the center, collapsed stairwell and employees have been lifted by the crane, "says John Owen, director of Forsyth Barr, in a telephone interview. "It took four or five hours to get everyone out," he said.

noon today, the army helicopter circled almost silent in the center of almost 24 hours after the earthquake. At seams, people spoke of military personnel and police have been trying to get home or hotels. Other wheeled suitcases along the deserted streets.

Streets Cracked

several meters long term cracks along some streets. Other important roads are swelling of the slurry of fine sand and extends through the aisles of surface flooding and much of the roads. In a street near Saint Albans area, there is a car half buried in sand forced up from the underground.

At the corner of Gloucester Street and Oxford Terrace in the center of the building's windows were broken Brannigans 10 levels. hull inspectors, meanwhile, sees through the task of verifying the individual buildings.

Since reporters have interviewed officials fire a replica of the outside corrugated Glass Art Gallery, which is to serve as a basis for civil defense. The quake toppled a chimney on the sale of National Heritage Arts Center.

Rescuers pull survivors from the buildings of the city and several organs, according to television reports. The researchers are in contact with the trapped survivors, said Police Inspector Russell Gibson in an interview on television, New Zealand.

The costs of disasters Mount

"There are still sound, so people are still there," Steve Barclay search and rescue in urban areas, told Television New Zealand. "He is very meticulous. Just because someone in the press one does not mean they are at a meter. "

The earthquake may be the most costly natural disaster for insurers since 2008. Insured losses for 12 billion U.S. dollars can be temblor, Michael Hüttner, an analyst at JPMorgan, said in note to clients. This would be the most expensive accident losses $ 19900000000 Hurricane Ike, which hit the United States in 2008, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group in New York.

Quake served as a reminder of the tug in Christchurch on September 4 that shook consumer confidence and contributed to a decline of 0.2 percent of gross domestic product in the third quarter. Reserve Bank of New Zealand estimates of earthquakes in September caused NZ $ 5 billion (3.7 billion dollars) in damage.

"It's going to delay the speed with which repairs the infrastructure is underway," Binns, director of infrastructure Mark Fletcher Building Ltd, Television New Zealand said in an interview. "We're going to look at resources from the rest of New Zealand, and perhaps into the sea."