Christchurch New Zealand Earthquake 2010

On Saturday, a powerful earthquake struck New Zealand. It struck about 35 miles from Christchurch, a city of about 386,000 people. It supposedly caused "a lot of damage," however, there are no reports of serious injuries or any major damage.

"It was like a freight train running through the house," said Chris Monroe, the operations manager for the New Zealand Fire Service.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0, which was down from the original assessment of 7.4, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had an aftershock with a magnitude of 5.7 which struck not far from the epicenter, about 20 minutes later.

In Christchurch, power was out in a lot of places, "because of extensive damage there," reported Radio New Zealand.

Structural damage to houses has been reported, as has broken glass. A man who was at the international airport in Christchurch described what happened, "The entire terminal started shaking. I knew it was an earthquake. There was not much you could do at that point," he said.

Afterwards, authorities evacuated the airport, he said, he also said that he saw some minor damage.

A New Zealand journalist said that he thinks it's fortunate that the earthquake struck during the night, rather than in the day when people would have been out and about. "When one of this magnitude comes along, people certainly feel it, particularly when it's shallow."

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The quake is not likely to generate a tsunami, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

That's good news, it means that the people of Christchurch have had all that they must face today.

There are no reports of any significant injuries at this point.

"We've just had a terrible earthquake," said Paula May, a Christchurch resident. "We have no power. Lots of stuff in the house is all over the floor. All the power is down, so I can't see anything. There's no power in the town."

She said that in her house, "we've got everything down in the rooms," and that although it appears there are buildings down in the region, such as old stone masonry-type structures, "everyone I know seems to be OK."

The earthquake struck on Saturday, September 04, 2010 at 04:35:46 AM.