Two people are dead after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand, sparking a tsunami warning, cutting off towns and leaving damage estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
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New Zealand quake: 100-year-old woman rescued
Two people are rescued from the The Elms homestead near Kaikoura, including 100-year-old Margaret Edgar, but one person tragically died due to the earthquake.
The quake struck near Hanmer Springs, on the South Island, minutes after midnight. More than 250 aftershocks have since rattled the country.
Scientists from the US Geological Survey (USGS) measured the quake as magnitude 7.8, while New Zealand's Geonet said it was 7.5.
There were conflicting reports about its depth, with the USGS putting it at 23 kilometres and Geonet saying it was 15 kilometres deep.
The tremors caused major infrastructure damage in Kaikoura, a popular tourist destination that has about 1000 visitors, the Marlborough District Council said.
Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura, north of Christchurch, were left inaccessible by road and rail.
A state of emergency has been declared in Kaikoura and Hurunui and a tsunami warning remained in place from the capital, Wellington, to Banks Peninsula on Monday.
The council said police were working to rescue travellers stranded around Kaikoura. It said the occupants of at least half a dozen campervans north of the coastal town are due to be flown out.
There is no sewerage and no household water supply, but power is gradually being restored. Shops are closed and people are not able to buy food, fuel or water.
"All residents are strongly urged to conserve water," the council said. "It may take days to restore the household water supply."
Prime Minister John Key flew over Kaikoura on Monday afternoon with acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee and surveyed the landslides and ruptured roads. He described the scene as "horrendous" and "just utter devastation".
"You've got to believe it's in the billions of dollars to resolve," he said. He added it would be "months of work" to address the disaster.
A 20-person search and rescue crew and two sniffer dogs have been sent to the town.
Two people were found dead following the earthquake, including one at Kaikoura, but Mr Key said it has not been confirmed if they deaths were a direct result of the quake.
Police reported one death at the heritage-listed Elms Homestead at Kaikoura. Another person was believed dead at a house at Mount Lyford, north of Christchurch.
An Air Force Orion had surveyed main transport routes between Picton and Christchurch.
Chaos in Wellington
In Wellington, hundreds of people were on the streets as building alarms sounded and fire trucks and police cars headed to the CBD.
Near Civic Square, hotel guests huddled together in bathrobes while they waited for their buildings to be cleared. Windows in some high-rise office buildings had smashed, while plaster and masonry appeared to have fallen down from buildings, Stuff.co.nz said.
Pictures shared on social media showed buckled roads, smashed glass and goods toppled from shelves in shops in Wellington and the upper South Island.
Wellington Region emergency controller Bruce Pepperell said a number of major buildings were showing signs of "structural stress" and inner-city workers were told to stay at home.
Inspections were being carried out on bridges and tunnels around the region and many buildings would need to be checked for damage, he said.
Schools and early childhood centres from Wellington to Canterbury will remain closed until they had been assessed.
The initial quake was registered as a 6.6 shake before being upgraded by GeoNet seismologists.
A host of aftershocks above magnitude 5 were recorded with the biggest a 6.3 tremor.
A seven-person Fire Service urban search and rescue team was flown by helicopter to Kaikoura and two further assessment teams have been deployed, one to Waiau and one to Blenheim.
Phone services, both mobile and fixed line, were affected in the Kaikoura area.
The national crisis management centre had been activated but a national state of emergency had not been declared.
People in Cheviot, near the epicentre of the first quake, reported extensive damage.
"Family friends in Cheviot say some houses are gone," a woman named Brodie tweeted.
KiwiRail said it had suspended trains on the main trunk line south of Palmerston North on the North Island and north of Christchurch on the South Island. A train was stranded north of Kaikoura after the quake.
Cook Strait ferry sailings have been cancelled and about 20 passengers aboard the Kaiarahi spent about 12 hours longer than planned on the vessel after it was unable to dock at Picton.
State Highways in the South Island have also been closed - SH1 Picton to Waipara and SH7 Waipara to Springs Junction - and many other local roads had also been damaged.
Christchurch remembers
The quake comes almost six years after a destructive 6.3 earthquake that killed 185 people in Canterbury early in 2011.
Residents in Christchurch's coastal suburbs had evacuated and moved to higher ground, Stuff.co.nz said.
Hotels and occupied buildings in the CBD had been evacuated.
Many people were standing around in the middle of the street, away from buildings, calling people to let them know they were OK.
Sydney Morning Herald journalist Saimi Jeong was in a hotel in Christchurch when the tremors began.
"I was in bed about to sleep when I heard the door start rattling. I thought someone was at the door trying to get in," she said.
"Then I felt the tremor - the bed was shaking, the floor was shaking. That's when it struck me that it was an earthquake.
"I could see the lamp and curtains shaking. It just kept going, and I wondered when it would finally stop."
Christchurch's tourism promoters said they hoped visitors did not cancel their holiday plans as they declared the city open for business.
Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Vic Allen said the airport, hotels, conference venues, visitor attractions and car and campervan rental companies were all operating as normal.
He said damage in the Christchurch central district appeared to be minimal, although building assessments are still being carried out.
"Christchurch is now one of the safest cities in the world, following our infrastructure rebuild and strengthening upgrades," he said.
"We are encouraging people to keep their plans to come to Christchurch."
Four homes in Christchurch abandoned by owners after a tsunami warning had been burgled, police said.
Fairfax New Zealand journalist Kirsty Lawrence was asleep in Palmerston North, on the North Island, when the earthquake struck.
"I waited in bed for a moment but then it got louder and started growing in intensity," she said.
"I was straight up and under a doorway. All our cupboards starting banging in the kitchen and stuff was falling all over on my dresser and car alarms were going off. And I'm up in Palmerston North so reasonably far from it and it was still huge. It went for so long."
A resident in the seaside Nelson suburb of Tahunanui said the power had been cut after the quake.
The quake was the largest to hit New Zealand since the 7.8 Dusky Sound earthquake in 2009, seismologist Sara McBride said in a blog.
New Zealand lies on the notorious Ring of Fire, the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.
AAP, Stuff.co.nz, Reuters