Magnitude 7.4 quake hits New Zealand

Magnitude 7.4 quake hits New Zealand

news.nationalpost.com

Update: The USGS has downgraded the quake to a 7.2.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 7.2 has hit near the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Christchurch is the second-largest city in New Zealand and has a population of about 340,000. The quake struck at about 4:30 a.m. on Saturday local time.

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Breaking news, more updates to follow.

It was downgraded to 7.2 from 7.4. No casualties reported yet. No tsunami warnings issued yet.

It struck at 4:35 a.m. Saturday (12:35 p.m. ET Friday) about four miles southeast of Christchurch, a major city in New Zealand. The centre of the quake was 66 km deep and just 6 km away from the city.

Someone has posted a photo of the damage in Christchurch on Twitter:



news.nationalpost.com
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Update:

People on twitter are reporting widespread damage, few buildings collapsed, cars squashed, sewer and water lines damaged, power out in most of Christchurch. Many aftershocks including one 5.7.

Still no fatalities reported.

Its been downgraded to 7.0 now.

[edit on 3-9-2010 by altamash]

Just talked to a bunch of my friends down there. They said the power is out, some buildings have been flattened and there is widespread damage.

More details from local NZ site here:

www.stuff.co.nz...

I hope all our members from down there are all ok.
That sounds pretty big.

Here is one of the first pix of the damage my friend sent me

twitpic.com...

Already posted here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...