New Zealand quake rips new fault line in earth's surface

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — The 7.1-magnitude earthquake that smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted rail lines around the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Saturday also ripped a new 11-foot-wide fault line in the earth's surface, officials said Sunday.

At least 500 buildings, including 90 downtown, were designated as destroyed in the quake that struck at 4:35 a.m. near the South Island city of 400,000 people. But most other buildings sustained only minor damage.

Only two serious injuries were reported from the quake as chimneys and walls of older buildings were reduced to rubble and crumbled to the ground.

Power was cut across the region, roads remain blocked by debris, and gas and water supplies were disrupted, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said. He warned that continuing aftershocks could cause masonry to fall from damaged buildings, as could gale-force winds expected in the region Sunday.

Canterbury University geology professor Mark Quigley said what "could be a new fault" had ripped across the earth and pushed some surface areas up about three feet. The quake was caused by the continuing collision between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates, he said.

"One side of the earth has lurched to the right ... up to 11 feet and in some places been thrust up," Quigley told National Radio.

"The long linear fracture on the earth's surface does things like break apart houses, break apart roads. We went and saw two houses that were completely snapped in half by the earthquake," he said.

Experts said the low number of injuries in the quake reflected the country's strict building codes.

"New Zealand has very good building codes ... (that) mean the buildings are strong compared with, say, Haiti," which suffered widespread damage in a magnitude-7.0 quake this year, earth-sciences professor Martha Savage said.

State geological agency GNS Science reported more than 40 aftershocks in the 24 hours after the quake, ranging in strength from magnitude 3.7 to 5.4.

A state of emergency was declared and army troops were on standby to assist after the quake, which was centered 19 miles west of Christchurch, according to GNS Science.

Prime Minister John Key, who flew to Christchurch to inspect the damage, said it was "an absolute miracle" no one had died.

He said initial assessments of the damage suggested it could cost at least 2 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.4 billion) to repair.

Civil Defense officials lifted a curfew on the central city area Sunday morning, while police commander Superintendent Dave Cliff said only two arrests had been made overnight.