Prime Minister John Key this morning visited the Kaiapoi district, north of Christchurch, to view the damage caused by Saturday's quake.
Mr Key, accompanied by Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson, Civil Defence Minister John Carter, Agriculture Minister David Carter and newly appointed Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee, was taken through the hardest-hit areas of the town, where houses had been entirely ripped from their foundations.
"It shows you how well the building code works in New Zealand as they had been picked up, ripped apart and yet the structure has survived enough that people could escape," Mr Key said after viewing one house.
Mr Key spoke with Andrew Blackwell, the fifth-generation owner of Kaiapoi's historic Blackwell's Department Store, which crumbled in the quake.
"It's been in operation since 1871, so it's been around a long time, but it hasn't survived this earthquake," Mr Key said.
Mr Key stopped to speak to local residents about their experiences in the quake and hear how they were coping in the aftermath.
Leanne Lloyd, 46, told Mr Key her power was back on, but that she was still without water and sewerage services.
"We've got the portaloos, but you don't want to be in there in an aftershock -- in and out as quick as you can," Ms Lloyd told a laughing Mr Key.
After leaving Kaiapoi, the politicians headed west to Kirwee and were then to travel south to the quake's epicentre in Selwyn.
NZPA