New Zealand post-quake

[malaise]

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - A sharp series of about 20 aftershocks rattled New Zealand's earthquake-hit city of Christchurch overnight, and earthquake experts warned Tuesday that another powerful temblor might hammer the region in coming days.

The weekend's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake smashed buildings and homes, wrecked roads and disrupted the central city, though nobody was killed and only two people were seriously injured -- which authorities attributed to good building codes and the quake's early-morning timing.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100905/ap_on_re_as/as_new_zealand_earthquake
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The powerful earthquake that smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted rail lines around the New Zealand city of Christchurch also ripped a new fault line in the Earth's surface, a geologist said Sunday.

At least 500 buildings, including 90 in the downtown area, have been designated as destroyed by the 7.1-magnitude quake that struck at 4:35 a.m. Saturday near the South Island city of 400,000 people. Most other buildings sustained only minor damage.

Part of the reason the city escaped major injuries was because the quake happened before dawn, Key said.

"If this had happened five hours earlier or five hours later (when many more people were in the city), there would have been absolute carnage in terms of human life," he told TV One News Sunday.

The quake cut power across the region, blocked roads with debris, and disrupted gas and water supplies, but Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said services were being restored Sunday.