Episcopal News Service details devastation of New Zealand earthquake

Episcopal News Service - NEWS

"Residents of Christchurch, New Zealand's second-largest city, are searching through the rubble left by a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that struck on Feb. 22 just before 1 p.m. local time, killing at least 65 people and damaging many buildings, including the Anglican cathedral.

It was the second time in five months that Christchurch has been rocked by a major earthquake...

...Archbishops David Moxon, Brown Turei and Winston Halapua, and Standing Committee of the General Synod/te Hinota Whanui of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia were meeting in Rotorua, New Zealand, about 140 miles southeast of Auckland on the country's north island when they received news of the earthquake.

'We, along with so many other people in this country, immediately turned to prayer for all those who are so seriously affected,' they said in part in a statement posted on the Anglican Communion News Service website.

'We have also contacted our wider Anglican Communion around the world and asked them to pray with us. We reach out in this prayer to the people of the city of Christchurch and the wider Canterbury region, asking the God of all the earth to give everyone the strength and endurance that they need to survive and to recover.'

Seismic experts classified the Feb. 22 quake, which struck at 6:51 p.m. Feb. 21 EST, as part of a continuing 'aftershock sequence' of the Sept. 3 magnitude-7.0 quake that struck outside of Christchurch. The U.S. Geological Survey said that this quake did not happen along the same fault as the September temblor. The USGS noted that there have been numerous aftershocks since September, but this one was the largest to date, more that half a magnitude unit larger than the previous largest aftershock."