Clean-up starts after New Zealand quake

Residents and emergency services in a New Zealand city began cleaning up today after a powerful earthquake wrecked a handful of buildings, burst water and gas pipes and left Christmas gifts strewn across shop floors.

An apartment building and two shops in the port city of Gisborne, 50kms from the quake’s epicentre, partially collapsed and other damage including caved-in roofs on other buildings and gaping holes in roadways, Gisborne District Council information manager Vance Walker said.

Sixteen people suffered minor injuries in the quake, which caused some residents to flee for higher ground amid tsunami fears.

No tsunami wave was generated by the 6.8 magnitude quake some 40kms below the surface.