David Wethey / EPA
Christchurch Catholic Cathedral shows extensively damaged after an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand in this file photo from Feb. 22, 2011.
ChristChurch Cathedral is the city's best-known building, but its climbable spire collapsed in the February 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people and destroyed many other downtown buildings. Officials had thought part of the building could be saved, but they said Friday that recent aftershocks caused even more damage.
Simon Baker / Reuters
Members of the public look on during a memorial service in Christchurch, New Zealand on Feb. 22, 2012, to mark the anniversary of the earthquake which killed 185 people.
Greg Bowker / New Zealand Herald via AP
Two women embrace as people gather at Hagley Park in Christchurch for the memorial service.
The Associated Press reports from WELLINGTON, New Zealand — More than 10,000 New Zealanders stood in silence, some in tears, at a Christchurch park Wednesday while police officers and firefighters read out the names of all 185 people who died in a devastating earthquake one year ago.
The reading was followed by two minutes of silence at 12:51 p.m., the minute the magnitude-6.1 quake struck. It destroyed thousands of homes and much of downtown Christchurch, causing 30 billion dollars ($25 billion) in damage by the government's estimate.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told the crowd that the city would never be the same again. He said people disagree about how the city should be rebuilt, but that one day it will again be a great place to live and work. Read the full story.
Martin Hunter / Getty Images
A boy carries a bear as families arrive at Latimer Square ahead of the anniversary memorial.
Martin Hunter / Getty Images
In this composite image (top) earthquake damage is seen at the Christchurch Cathedral Citizens War Memorial, seven months after the Christchurch earthquake, on Sept. 28, 2011 and (bottom) the same location as seen ahead of the one year Christchurch earthquake anniversary on Feb. 21, 2012 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Martin Hunter / Getty Images
In this composite image (top) rescuers search for survivors in a collapsed building in Manchester Street on Feb. 22, 2011and (bottom) the same location as seen ahead of the one year Christchurch earthquake anniversary on Feb. 21, 2012 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Martin Hunter / Getty Images
In this composite image (top) collapsed buildings in Manchester Street on Feb. 22, 2011 and (bottom) the same location as seen ahead of the one year Christchurch earthquake anniversary on Feb. 21, 2012 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The reading was followed by two minutes of silence at 12:51 p.m., the minute the magnitude-6.1 quake struck. It destroyed thousands of homes and much of downtown Christchurch, causing 30 billion dollars ($25 billion) in damage by the government's estimate.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told the crowd at the park that the city would never be the same again. He said people disagree about how the city should be rebuilt, but that one day it will again be a great place to live and work.
Related stories:
Bradley Ambrose / EPA
Heavy snowfalls blanket large parts of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, Aug. 15. Much of New Zealand was at a standstill after a rare weather front from the Antarctic dumped massive snowfall over huge areas of the country. The South Island took the brunt of the storm, though the capital, Wellington, at the foot of the North Island, had its heaviest snowfall in 30 years forcing road closures and flight cancellations.
The New Zealand Herald reports:
MetService head forecaster Peter Kreft told NZPA the polar blast was "of the order of a 50 year'' event and warned it could last for several more days.
"It's a once in many decades event. We are probably looking at something like - in terms of extent and severity, maybe 50 years,'' he said.
The level of snow that fell in Wellington had not been seen since at least the 1970s, he said.
Read more from The New Zealand Herald here.
Martin Hunter / Getty Images
The remains of a damaged house at Shag Rock near Sumner after the cliff fell away during two magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes struck on June 13 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The aftershocks came four months after the major eathquake which hit the city on February 22, resulting in the deaths of 181 people.
Martin Hunter / Getty Images
A car stands in water after two magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes struck on June 13 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The AP reports from WELLINGTON, New Zealand:
A series of aftershocks rattled New Zealand's quake-devastated city of Christchurch again Monday, toppling one of the few buildings still standing downtown and sinking thousands of homes into darkness.
Bricks came crashing down in the cordoned-off city center, where only workers have tread since it was devastated in February's major earthquake. About 200 people were there when the quakes struck Monday, and two were briefly trapped in a church. In all, 10 people were injured in the city.
"We are being enveloped with dust," Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker told New Zealand's National Radio. "It is very, very scary." Continue reading.
Prince William has been meeting some of those affected by two disasters in New Zealand. In Greymouth on the South Island the Prince met with the families of 29 men killed in an explosion at the Pike River coal mine on Nov. 19.
Marty Melville / AFP - Getty Images
Prince William receives a hong, a Maori greeting, from a tribal leader before meeting with officials of the Pike River company in Greymouth, New Zealand on March 17. Prince William is scheduled to hold a private meeting with the grieving families of the miners, whose bodies are still entombed in the sealed-off pit, which remains too dangerous to enter.
In Christchurch, the Prince got a firsthand look at the destruction wrought by last month's earthquake, praising the work search teams had done and adding that he wished he'd been able to help. William was escorted through the city, where the wreckage of collapsed buildings still lies piled up in areas. The downtown is still sealed off as workers dismantle unstable rubble and shore up weakened and wobbly buildings after a 6.3-magnitude quake on Feb. 22 that toppled or badly damaged thousands of buildings and killed at least 166 people.
Hannah Johnston / AP
Prince William, center, puts on a hat as he poses for a photo with members of the Urban Search and Rescue team in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 17. Christchurch was hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Feb. 22, causing major damage to the central city and surrounding suburbs.
"The scale of it is unbelievable," the prince said while visiting Latimer Square, a park in the center of town that became an emergency medical depot immediately after the quake. Read the full story.
Hannah Johnston / Getty Images
Prince William looks at the destruction at Christchurch Cathedral on March 17 in Christchurch, New Zealand. His Royal Highness is in New Zealand for two days to tour areas devastated by the Christchurch Earthquake and to visit families who lost loved ones at the Pike River Mine in Greymouth. Prince William will then travel to Australia on Saturday for three days where he will visit regions affected by floods and Hurricane Yasi in Queensland, as well as flood-affected parts of Australia.
After a 30-ton rock crashed through the roof of his garage and came to rest in his hallway during the Feb. 22 earthquake, Christchurch resident Phil Johnson had an idea - why not sell it?
Phil Johnson / AP
In this photo taken March 1, a car-sized boulder is seen after smashing Phil Johnson's house in last month's earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Johnson has sold the rock, Rocky, in an online auction for more than 60,000 New Zealand dollars (US$44,300). Johnson said the 30-ton boulder tumbled down from a hill overlooking his home, crunched through the roof of his garage and came to rest in his hallway during the Feb 22 quake. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal.
His listing on an online auction site described the "pristine condition" of the boulder Phil had dubbed 'Rocky' and suggested that it was "suitable for garden feature, or as in our case a magnificent addition to your living area."
The auction raised an astonishing US $44,300, and Phil is donating the proceeds to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. Rocky was bought by a company which runs ski resorts, according to a report in The New Zealand Herald.
80 year old Betty McGrail is not quite so enamored with the boulder that landed in her living room.
Sarah Ivey / AP
In this photo taken March 4, Betty McGrail, 80, sits in her living room next to a large boulder which crashed through her house in the Feb. 22 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The Herald reports that Betty fled her home when the earthquake struck. "There were boulders and rocks coming down the hill from all different areas," she said.
"They came down the hill fast, bouncing. They came from everywhere with a 'boom, boom, boom'. When I went back to my house this big boulder was in the sitting room. It's sitting there quite nicely, like it's happy to be there. And no one knows how to get it out."
Phil Walter / Getty Images
People stand togeather and comfort each other in Hagley Park as New Zealand holds two minutes' silence at 12.51pm local time to mark the time of last week's Christchurch earthquake on Tuesday, March 1 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
See more photos out of New Zealand here.
Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images
Cattle graze in a flooded field discoloured by mineral contamination on the outskirts of Christchurch on Feb. 27, after a 6.3 earthquake devastated New Zealand's second largest city and surrounding towns on Feb. 22. The quake caused more damage than the 7.1 magnitude quake that hit the city on Sept. 4, and has killed at least 146 people.
Mark Baker / AP
Newlyweds Emma Howard and Chris Greenslade cheer for a group photo after their wedding, Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, just days after she was pulled from the rubble of the earthquake devastated Pyne Gould Corporation in Christchurch, New Zealand. Tuesday's magnitude 6.3 temblor collapsed buildings, caused extensive other damage and killed more than 100 people.
From The Australian:
Emma Howard lay trapped for six-and-a-half hours inside the Pyne Gould building, one of the most badly damaged when the 6.3-magnitude quake struck the New Zealand at lunchtime on Tuesday.
She texted her fiance, fellow accountant Chris Greenslade, who raced to the building from his nearby workplace.
“I thought she was dead,” he said today before the couple's wedding ceremony in Christchurch.
Mr Greenslade dug among the ruins of the building, pulling out other people as he searched for his bride-to-be.
Eventually he was able to carry her from the destroyed building - an act captured in some of the first footage of rescue efforts after the quake.
Read the full story from here and see the slideshow we have about the earthquake.
Martin Hunter / Getty Images
Tristan Webb stands in a large hole along River Road, Avonside on Friday, February 25 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The death toll has risen to 113 and the hope for finding survivors is fading as rescuers search through debris for over 200 still missing following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch on Tuesday. The quake, which was an aftershock of a 7.1 magnitude quake that struck the South Island city on September 4, 2010, has seen damage and fatalities far exceeding those of the original.
For more pictures, see our slideshow.
Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images
Luxury homes stand on the edge of a landslide in the suburb of Sumner on Feb. 24 after a 6.3 earthquake devastated the city of Christchurch two days earlier.
Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images
A suburban street is covered with silt forced out of the ground by liquefaction on Feb. 24 after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the city of Christchurch two days earlier.
Follow the latest developments in Christchurch here and see more images in our slideshow.
E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS