BREAKING NEWS - Powerful earthquake strikes New Zealand

BREAKING NEWS - EARTHQUAKE IN NEWZEALAND - CITY OF CHRISTCHURCH
See Webcam HERE/AQUI

From New Tork Times:

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities declared a state of emergency after a major earthquake hit New Zealand's second biggest city early on Saturday, bringing down power lines, ripping up roads and wrecking building facades, but authorities reported no deaths.

A formal civil defense state of emergency was imposed in Christchurch to coordinate recovery operations in the city of around 350,000 after facades collapsed into streets, crushing cars and blocking roads.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 10 kms (6 miles), hitting the South Island city and a large surrounding area of farms at around 4.35 a.m. local time (12:35 p.m. EDT Friday).

The city's hospital said two men had been admitted with serious injuries, one hit by a falling chimney and the other cut by glass. It had also treated a few other people with broken bones, cuts and grazes.

"I think we've been extremely lucky as a nation that there's been no fatalities; we're blessed actually," Civil Defense Minister John Carter told reporters, adding that he expected the cost to the economy would be substantial.

Prime Minister John Key, who has a sister living in the city, was heading to the city with senior government officials.

"I think it is going to take quite some time before we know how big the bill is," Key told Television NZ.

Christchurch city and the neighboring small towns bore the full force of the quake, which did considerable damage to infrastructure.

"The damage is immense, it's something that has affected every family, every household...the hit on our infrastructure, the pipes that deliver the water, the waste water, the bridges, the power supplies...has been very significant," Christchurch mayor Bob Parker told reporters.

Police said there were minor instances of looting, which had been quickly contained. In the suburbs many houses had broken windows, toppled chimneys, cracked walls and items thrown off shelves, with some streets and footpaths subsiding.

Power was out over a large area of the city and surrounding region, but was being progressively restored after safety checks.

Authorities were preparing to bring in water in large tankers because pumping stations were out of action and pipes broken.