N.Zealand braces for more destruction after quake

Prime Minister John Key said it was "a miracle" no one had died when the major 7.0 magnitude quake wreaked more than a billion dollars of damage on the nation's second-biggest city Christchurch.

Civil defence officials warned that ongoing aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 5.4, coupled with a ferocious storm blowing in, could threaten already-weakened buildings.

Despite widespread damage, none of the city's 340,000-strong population died when the quake struck before dawn Saturday.

"The only conclusion you can draw is that it's a miracle nobody was killed," Key said as he surveyed the devastation.

"Parts of the city look like they've been put in the tumble dryer and been given a darn good shake."

Engineers praised New Zealand's stringent building standards in the earthquake prone country for the limited damage.

"There's no doubt it's a very, very significant reason why there wasn't more destruction," the director of the Joint Centre For Disaster Research at Wellington's Massey University, David Johnston, said.

Central Christchurch remained cordoned off Sunday although most of the power, water and sewage facilities that were cut in the earthquake had been restored.

Emergency evaluation teams picked their way through streets piled with rubble and littered with shattered glass to inspect buildings and determine whether evacuations were necessary.

Coastal and riverside suburbs were among the worst-hit areas, and health fears may yet force evacuations, the civil defence agency said in a statement.

More than 200 people have moved into welfare centres for temporary accommodation while hundreds more sheltered with friends after fleeing damaged homes.

The Salvation Army said it was feeding 1,000 people and launched an appeal for those affected by the quake.

"Not since the 1930s have we experienced an earthquake as severe and it is important that we do everything we can to help," Salvation Army national fundraising coordinator Major Robbie Ross said.

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