Families at quake inquest flee fresh tremors

GRIEVING families of Christchurch earthquake victims were further traumatised when powerful aftershocks sent them fleeing from an inquest into their loved ones’ deaths.

The families, who had arrived at the coroner’s inquest seeking answers on the collapse of an office block during a deadly 6.3 magnitude quake last February, ended up reliving the horror of the disaster when the tremors hit.

A 5.2-magnitude aftershock rocked the venue at Christchurch’s Riccarton Racecourse at 1.00pm (0100GMT), creating a wall of noise as windows rattled and the ground shook. More buildings came down and there was severe disruption to electricity and water supplies, but there were no fatalities. More than 40 people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries from falling debris.