Pictured: The moment New Zealand quake shook a city to pieces


Christchurch resembles a warzone as office buildings, homes and churches lie in ruins after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake ripped through the city.

Rescue workers have been working for more than 24 hours to locate any survivors but in many cases, the damage is so great that there is little hope. The death toll is currently 75 but hundreds are still unaccounted for.

The Mail has brought together some of the most incredible pictures from what is one of the worst natural disasters in New Zealand's history. Eerily reminiscent of 9/11, they capture the raw power of the tremor and its devastating consequences.

Rising dust: Seconds after the Christchurch earthquake, this picture captured the scene of widespread devastation from afar International aid: A Japanese rescue crew arrives at the rubble of CTV building where some of their countrymen are thought to be buried Cracked: This cliffside road between Lyttelton - the quake's epicentre - and the suburb of Sumner had a chunk sheared off it Reinforcements: An Australian team from the Queensland Urban Search and Rescue Task Force on board a plane bound for New Zealand Broken landmark: The iconic Time Ball Station stands semi-destroyed Hope: A Japanese rescue worker with a sniffer dog continues the increasingly desperate search for survivors

Little hope: Firefighters outside a collapsed building in Christchurch today

Is anyone there? Rescue teams used thermal cameras to locate survivors

Reduced to a pile of bricks: A Baptist church lies in ruins

Blocked: A fuel tanker had to be abandoned on the road between Lyttelton and Christchurch

Peeled away: A row of shops and offices is totally open after the front wall was ripped away

Safe: Residents sheltering at the Salvation Army centre at Cowles Stadium

Debris: A rescue worker hunting for signs of life in the Canterbury TV building

Destruction: A vehicle stuck in the road after the ground broke up

Crushed: A row of cars covered by a collapsed building

Reminiscent of 9/11: A rescue worker looks through the rubble of the CTV building