The Government has declared a national state of emergency after yesterday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch.
At least 75 people have been confirmed dead in the earthquake, with the toll expected to rise significantly as the dead are found and identified. The earthquake has devastated the centre of Christchurch, destroying buildings and infrastructure in the city.
Cabinet met at 9.30am to decide whether to declare a national emergency.
Prime Minister John Key earlier said a national state of emergency would give central government more capacity to act.
"We have enormous faith in the leadership of Christchurch and we want to give them all the support we can."
He said the short term focus was on rescue and recovery, but it would quickly move to restoring core infrastructure and providing support for "a city that will effectively have to be rebuilt."
He said declaring a national state of emergency would reflect the size of the tragedy.
"If we did that we wouldn't be doing it because we don't have confidence in Christchurch's ability, it's just the scale of what we're dealing with."
StarCanterbury
No comments:
Post a Comment