By Angela Beswick
Prime Minister John Key will travel to Christchurch this afternoon to assess damage following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake.
The quake struck 30km west of the city around 4.35am this morning, causing minor injuries, structural damage and cutting power to the region.
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A state of emergency was declared at 10am, after a meeting between Civil Defence Minister John Carter and the National Crisis Management Centre was called, to monitor the quake and co-ordinate central government response.
Mr Carter, Mr Key and Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee will fly by airforce plane to Christchurch this afternoon. They are expected to arrive around 2pm.
There are currently no reports of serious injury although police have confirmed minor injuries, structural damage and considerable damage to at least 20 roads. Sumner Rd is now impassable.
3 News has obtained pictures showing the extensive damage to buildings in central Christchurch
The Daily Bagel café has had its exterior walls torn down on the upper floor.
Structural damage to houses, gas coming out of certain places and broken glass is being reported throughout Christchurch. Damage and power outages have been reported as far away as Dunedin.
Water and sewage has been affected in several regions and residents are being warned to conserve water. All Selwyn residents are being asked to conserve water - especially in Rolleston where the supply is reportedly contaminated.
Mr Brownlee said he expected power to be back on by this evening.
In a statement released this morning, Civil Defence said there were power outages northwest of Christchurch city, however the CBD is understood to be operating normally.
The situation has been described as a “significant disaster” by Mr Carter. The United Nations has contacted the Government and is being kept informed, NZPA reported.
Mr Carter urged Christchurch residents to stay calm.
“I know it’s a difficult thing and people are in shock, that’s understandable,” he said.
“It’s a pretty horrible situation.”
Residents are reporting ongoing tremors.
What should you do in the aftermath of an earthquake?
All of Christchurch’s hospitals are operational, though people are asked only to come in if it is an emergency. They are currently running on generator power.
Many people were suffering from shock, Mr Carter said. But he urged the public not to flood the hospital with minor injuries. He urged them instead to go to their 24-hour medical centres.
"The most important thing we can tell anybody at the moment is please, don't panic," Mr Carter said.
Shaken residents describe earthquake damage
The army had been informed and was ready to mobilise if needed.
The airport is closed. A spokesman told the NZPA officials are waiting for daylight to asses possible damage. They expect to reopen by 10am.
Police have reported the presence of looting in central Christchurch, cordoning off areas where looters have already been active.
"Shop windows are broken and obviously it's easy pickings for displays and things," says Inspector Mike Coleman.
Just saw two teens get caught trying to break into the dairy at the river end of Bower Ave. They stole two newspapers and thanks to a nice old man standing by the dairy they got caught after returning to the scene of the crime," writes Andrew Knops.
Mr Coleman said police had taken about 300 calls in the first couple of hours following the quake, with many concerned for relatives.
"We're telling people to check their neighbours and obviously go to their Civil Defence centre if they feel unsafe in their houses," he said.
Christchurch residents took to Twitter, offering live updates of the aftershocks and uploading pictures of the damage.
“I don’t really want to sound like I’m moany or a whimp, but this is not funny, I haven’t been this scared for such a length of time before!!” Yuri_Bacas writes.
“Another aftershake, seriously, this is so nerve breaking. Throat is dry and heart goes pumping, ran to the door fram again, please STOP!”
Follow the latest updates from the Christchurch quake
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said no destructive widespread tsunami threat existed based on historical earthquake and tsunami data. However, earthquakes of this size sometimes generated local tsunamis that could be destructive along coasts located within 100km of the earthquake epicentre, it said.
Civil Defence asked people to assess their home or workplace for damage; look for and extinguish small fires if safe to do so; and not overflow the phone lines with non-emergency calls. They were also asked to check on elderly neighbours.
Police are warning residents to stay off roads and avoid the central city. All State Highway structures are open to traffic and Lyttleton Tunnel has been checked and reopened, according to the Civil Defence. A major deformation at Bromley has closed the road on SH74, on the ring route to Christchurch.
"We've got considerable damage, there's gas leaks, there's been damaged water pipes, we've got sewage in houses and a lot of power lines and power poles down. It's very unsafe to be out and about," says Mr Coleman.
3 News
Prime Minister John Key flew to Christchurch this morning, he spoke live to The Nation - watch the video