We continue to pray for those affected by the massive earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Woman’s rescue a rare ray of hope in quake-ravaged New Zealand city
From CNN
A woman was pulled from earthquake ruins in one of New Zealand’s largest cities Wednesday, bringing a rare ray of hope as rescuers frantically searched for survivors.
Ann Bodkin took cover under her desk when the 6.3-magnitude quake struck Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 75 people. She had been trapped in her office building for 24 hours.
“The sun came out the moment she was removed from the building,” said Mayor Bob Parker of Christchurch. “It was like God turned on the lights.”
Elsewhere in the city, there was heartbreak for relatives of the missing as authorities called off a search at the Canterbury Television building, after concluding no-one could have survived the damage there.
Major aftershock of September quake strikes New Zealand
Death toll rises; fatalities may include those trapped in Anglican cathedral
Residents of Christchurch, New Zealand’s second-largest city, are searching through the rubble left by a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that struck on Feb. 22 just before 1 p.m. local time, killing at least 65 people and damaging many buildings, including the Anglican cathedral.
It was the second time in five months that Christchurch has been rocked by a major earthquake.
The Very Rev. Peter Beck, dean of Christchurch Cathedral, told the British Broadcasting Corp.’s 5 Live Radio program that he managed to escape his cathedral office and helped others as well. The offices were not badly damaged but “the tower has collapsed and some of the walls have collapsed and we’re pretty fearful there may be some people underneath that.”
“We got all the people out that we could, but there are piles of rubble, especially where the tower has collapsed. We don’t know whether there were people in the tower at the time, but I’m fairly fearful of that,” Beck said. He added that “there’s a huge amount of dust, it’s like a fog inside there.”
Rescuers Press Search for Survivors in N. Zealand Quake
From the New York Times
Rescue workers struggled to find survivors on Wednesday as much of New Zealand’s second largest city remained silent and dark a day after an earthquake killed scores of people.
Police imposed a nighttime curfew and large sections of the city remained without electricity and running water, but the Christchurch Airport reopened to domestic and international flights.
Officials said on Wednesday that at least 75 people had been killed, although only 55 had been identified. The authorities have warned that the final toll could be significantly higher and the expectation was that a clearer assessment of casualties would be known on Thursday morning.
Officials said 120 people had been rescued from the rubble since Tuesday’s earthquake, while temporary shelters across the city remained full.