Melbourne, Feb 22 (PTI) A strong earthquake has struck the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch today bringing down buildings, power and phone lines.
According to latest media reports, buildings and houses have collapsed with fears there could be fatalities.
There have been reports of people feared to be reportedly missing, trapped inside buildings that have collapsed.
Along the main streets of Christchurch entire buildings have collapsed onto the streets.
While the extent of damage is not yet known, the US Geological Survey has rated the event as of 6.3 magnitude.
It says the quake struck at a depth of 4km, 5km north-northwest of Christchurch.
Some reports suggested that it should be considered as an aftershock to the 7.1 magnitude quake that struck on September four last year.
Amid chaotic scenes and the wail of sirens in the city centre, one Christchurch worker Julian Hobday was quoted as saying to be lucky to survive as the apartment store he was in was severely rocked.
"It was just horrific", Christchurch resident Sean Scanlon said adding it was by far the biggest shake since the original September four quake.
The power was out and phone lines jammed. The city was being shaken by a series of heavy aftershocks.
Christchurch Hospital was being evacuated, a spokeswoman for the hospital said.
Christchurch airport was closed and police said they were evacuating the city centre.
New Zealand sits on the Pacific "ring of fire", an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile in South America through Alaska and down through the South Pacific.
It records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year but only about 150 are felt by residents, and fewer than 10 a year do any damage.

courtesy by http://news.in.msn.com