New Zealand Earthquake: Warships Head to Kaikoura
Local Editor
Australian, Canadian and US warships are heading to the New Zealand town of Kaikoura to help with evacuations after a series of powerful earthquakes.
Two people were killed when two simultaneous quakes hit near Christchurch on Monday morning, followed by thousands of aftershocks.
Thousands were cut off in Kaikoura after roads and infrastructure were badly damaged.
Many were tourists visiting the popular whale-watching destination.
The country has been hit by at least 1,823 earthquakes since the magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Monday, according to GeoNet, New Zealand's government-funded earthquake monitoring service.
Tonkin and Taylor, an earthquake engineering consulting firm which was employed by the New Zealand government to assess damage to Kaikoura, told the BBC that the damage in the area was "catastrophic".
"There have been 100,000 landslides, over 50 covering State Highway 1," the main road which runs the length of the country, it said.
But the company said damage to residential housing was "not too bad".
Helicopters began airlifting people from Kaikoura on Tuesday, after landslides cut off road and rail links. Power and water supplies have also been disrupted.
More than 400 people have already been evacuated by air or sea, and the defence force aims to get all people who want to leave out by the end of Wednesday, the New Zealand Herald reported.
New Zealand Defense Minister Gerry Brownlee said the offer of assistance was "heartening", and that Japan and Singapore had also offered help.
Meanwhile, the cleanup is continuing in Christchurch and the capital, Wellington.
Some streets remain cordoned off while safety checks are carried out.
Some buildings have been evacuated because of "structural concerns", TVNZ reported.
One eight-story office building in central Wellington is expected to be demolished.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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