Dozens dead and hundreds hurt in New Zealand earthquake

New Zealand rescue teams have been working through the night to find scores of people trapped under collapsed buildings.

More than 100 survivors have already been rescued from the rubble.

The authorities say the number of confirmed dead in the earthquake was 32 not 65, as Prime Minister John Key said last night.

But that number is expected to rise as the days pass.

The 6.3 magnitude quake struck at lunchtime on Tuesday, when streets and shops were busy with people and offices were still occupied.

Rescuers, working under lights in steady rain, have focused on two collapsed buildings: a financial-services office block whose four stories pancaked on top of each other, and a TV building which also housed an English-language school.

Channel 4 News Live Blog: Dozens dead after New Zealand earthquake

British rescuers travel to New Zealand

A UK disaster relief team is to join the search-and-rescue effort in New Zealand.

The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said the search and rescue team would arrive in Christchurch on Thursday evening New Zealand time.

He said: “It is a long way from the UK to New Zealand and so our team will take a while to get there, but the New Zealand Government confirm that assistance is very much required.”

He said the Heavy Search and Rescue Team consisted of around 62 people and over nine tonnes of equipment.

There are some wonderful stories of people surviving for a week after earthquakes. Paul Burnham, West Midlands Fire Service

The team will arrive on Thursday ready to assist in any way possible and will provide relief to teams already on the ground from New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

Group Commander Paul Burnham, from West Midlands Fire Service, is the team’s leader.

He told Channel 4 News he hoped to find survivors: “The first few days are most critical and the window of survival gets shorter and shorter as the days pass but there are some wonderful stories of people surviving for a week after earthquakes.

“The team has a wealth of experience. We’ve been to Haiti, Indonesia and Pakistan.

“When we get there we’ll look at what the local people want and where the priorities are.

“It might be that we offer a reconnaissance of an area or break through reinforced concrete.”

Aftershocks
Alice Walker from the British Geological Survey said a number of aftershocks have been recorded following the Christchurch quake:

"About six aftershocks have been above magnitude five. They're actually being felt by the local population.

"The biggest problem about aftershocks is when you have debris that's loose on buildings these aftershocks can cause enough shaking to bring these buildings down.

"Earthquakes happen in New Zealand all the time..but we've not had any earthquakes that have caused any death for 40 years.

"The last one was in 1968 which caused two people to be killed.

"The previous one was in 1931 which did a lot of damage in Napier and killed 256 people."