Earth's Endangered Creatures !!!

[kueytoc]

First footage of clouded leopard captured in Borneo

AFP - Monday, February 15

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – The Sundaland clouded leopard, a newly identified and little understood species of big cat in Borneo, has been filmed for the first time.

The leopard, a healthy-looking animal a metre long (3 feet) and weighing about 40 kilos (90 pounds) was caught on video at night at the Dermakot Forest Reserve in Malaysian Borneo's Sabah state.

"What surprised us was that while clouded leopards are very elusive cats, this one was not scared at all," said Azlan Mohamed, a field scientist with University Sabah Malaysia.

"Despite our powerful spot lights and the roar of our vehicle's engine, it walked around our vehicle calmly," he told AFP.

"It is rare to see the big cat in the wild. These cats are usually shy of humans, it was by chance we caught it on video."

The Sundaland clouded leopard was classified as a new species through genetic studies several years ago and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature designated it as endangered in 2008.

Previously all clouded leopards living across the Southeast Asian mainland were thought to be the same species.

Azlan said the Sundaland species is the biggest predator on Borneo, a resource-rich island split between Malaysia and Indonesia where wildlife habitats are under pressure from logging and plantations.

Because of their nocturnal habits, secretive behaviour and small numbers, little is known about the beast, including how many of them are living in Borneo.

However, Azlan said the researchers found the remains of a samba deer which had been killed by one of the big cats.

Azlan is a member of a research team focusing on carnivores in Sabah, led by Andreas Wilting of the Leibnez Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research based in Berlin, Germany.

This big cat can be found in lowland rainforest on Borneo and in small numbers in areas of logged forest.

But environmentalist say that the clouded leopard faces the threat of poaching while rapid deforestation and the creation of rubber and oil-palm plantations in Borneo is destroying its natural habitat.

Azlan said Dermakot Forest Reserve, a 500 square kilometre (190 square mile) area which had been commercially logged but where replanting is now underway, is also home to four other threatened wild cats.

Sixty cameras traps placed in Dermakot also captured images of the marbled cat, flat-headed cat, leopard cat and Borneo bay cat, all smaller in size than the Sundaland clouded leopard.

"These small cats feed on rats and mice," he said.

Azlan said the research team was "surprised" to find all five cat species in Dermakot and four of them in the neighbouring Tangkulap Forest Reserve.

[MarcoVan]

First footage of clouded leopard captured in Borneo

AFP - Monday, February 15

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – The Sundaland clouded leopard, a newly identified and little understood species of big cat in Borneo, has been filmed for the first time.

The leopard, a healthy-looking animal a metre long (3 feet) and weighing about 40 kilos (90 pounds) was caught on video at night at the Dermakot Forest Reserve in Malaysian Borneo's Sabah state.

"What surprised us was that while clouded leopards are very elusive cats, this one was not scared at all," said Azlan Mohamed, a field scientist with University Sabah Malaysia.

"Despite our powerful spot lights and the roar of our vehicle's engine, it walked around our vehicle calmly," he told AFP.

"It is rare to see the big cat in the wild. These cats are usually shy of humans, it was by chance we caught it on video."

The Sundaland clouded leopard was classified as a new species through genetic studies several years ago and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature designated it as endangered in 2008.

Previously all clouded leopards living across the Southeast Asian mainland were thought to be the same species.

Azlan said the Sundaland species is the biggest predator on Borneo, a resource-rich island split between Malaysia and Indonesia where wildlife habitats are under pressure from logging and plantations.

Because of their nocturnal habits, secretive behaviour and small numbers, little is known about the beast, including how many of them are living in Borneo.

However, Azlan said the researchers found the remains of a samba deer which had been killed by one of the big cats.

Azlan is a member of a research team focusing on carnivores in Sabah, led by Andreas Wilting of the Leibnez Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research based in Berlin, Germany.

This big cat can be found in lowland rainforest on Borneo and in small numbers in areas of logged forest.

But environmentalist say that the clouded leopard faces the threat of poaching while rapid deforestation and the creation of rubber and oil-palm plantations in Borneo is destroying its natural habitat.

Azlan said Dermakot Forest Reserve, a 500 square kilometre (190 square mile) area which had been commercially logged but where replanting is now underway, is also home to four other threatened wild cats.

Sixty cameras traps placed in Dermakot also captured images of the marbled cat, flat-headed cat, leopard cat and Borneo bay cat, all smaller in size than the Sundaland clouded leopard.

"These small cats feed on rats and mice," he said.

Azlan said the research team was "surprised" to find all five cat species in Dermakot and four of them in the neighbouring Tangkulap Forest Reserve.

Nice!

I dear these endangered cats alot! It looks really cute eh! haha (:

Happy Reefing,

Marc J.

[kueytoc]

Wildlife need more friends and protectors

Bangkok Post Opinion

EDITORIAL

Published: 29/08/2010 at 04:38 AM

The bizarre case of a woman at Suvarnabhumi Airport attempting to smuggle a two-month-old tiger cub on to a plane she was boarding to Iran brings some much-needed publicity to the problem of animal trafficking. It is not known if the heavily sedated cub hidden in a bag full of stuffed tiger toys was wild or had been bred in captivity, but regardless, it is clear that the suddenly famous representative of a rapidly disappearing species needs to stay in Thailand.

The animal was turned over to a rescue centre in Bang Khen district operated by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (NPD). The director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, Chatchawan Pisdamkham, said the tiger cub will be transferred to a wildlife breeding station at Khao Prathap Chang Wildlife Sanctuary in Ratchaburi province next week.

Unfortunately the ending is not so happy for the vast majority of trafficked animals, not only because they are not usually so high profile, but also because even if they are the traffickers are rarely caught. In Thailand we occasionally hear about truckloads of pangolins being seized as they head their way northward to China, where the meat from the supposedly protected animals is considered a delicacy, and to have medicinal and aphrodisiac properties.

But we can only wonder how much more often the trucks full of their illegal cargoes traverse the full length of the country and pass through border checkpoints unobstructed.

One thing is certain, the poachers concentrate their efforts in southern Thailand, Malaysia, and to some extent Burma, because pangolin populations have been severely decimated in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Unless more pressure can be brought on the traffickers it is only a matter time before this is the situation in Thailand and Malaysia as well.

The NPD urgently needs more resources devoted to stopping the trafficking of wild animals in Thailand. At the end of last year the NPD reported that it was caring for more than 8,383 birds and 3,152 mammals that have been confiscated from wildlife trafficking gangs. These are now housed at 23 wildlife breeding centres across the nation. The 30 million baht provided to the department to care for the animals is proving inadequate.

But the resources to track down and thwart the traffickers of pangolins, black bears, tigers and the even more exotic Asian leopard are even more inadequate.

On a positive note, the NPD late last year began training dogs to help in the wildlife trafficking suppression effort. This is the second time the department has used dogs for conservation purposes. A few years ago a group of dogs were trained by police and military dog-training experts to track wildlife poachers at Khao Yai National Park but the operation was stopped when the department changed its policy.

The new canine poaching detectors, all Labrador retrievers, are stationed at checkpoints in provinces where wildlife smuggling is rampant, such as Songkhla, Phetchaburi and Nong Khai, according to the NPD.

But many more dogs and men are needed. As can be imagined it is an overwhelming task to monitor all the country's national parks and forests, protected or otherwise, for poachers.

What's more, investigations by wildlife protection groups have named Thailand as a major transit point for wildlife trafficking throughout Southeast Asia.

Thailand's disappearing diversity of wildlife is a national treasure. Species populations are difficult if not impossible to replenish if they fall below a certain level, and there are many species native to Thailand whose numbers are falling to dangerously low levels.

The illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts is estimated at US$20 billion (624 billion baht) per year, second only to arms and drug smuggling in the amount of money it generates. The toll this business takes on our environment and the animals that live in it is immeasurable.

Worldwide the poaching of wildlife is driving tigers, elephants, rhinoceros and many less exotic species to the brink of extinction.

Governments must do more to stop this scourge, but in the end, as with the drug trade, it is the ``consumers'' who fuel the trade.

In the words of world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall: ``Our endangered animals are being wiped off the earth by illegal wildlife trade, and it is up to us to stop it.

``Never buy illegal wildlife products and we can save our endangered animals. When the buying stops the killing can, too.''

[kueytoc]

Malaysia uncovers nearly 100 live reptiles in bag

Reuters - Monday, August 30

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian airport security arrested a convicted wildlife smuggler after finding almost 100 live reptiles in his luggage, the country's Wildlife and National Parks Department said.

Anson Wong, already convicted of trafficking in wildlife in the United States, was in transit from the Malaysian island state of Penang to the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Thursday when Malaysia Airlines staff at Kuala Lumpur airport were alerted to a bag that had broken while on a conveyor belt.

The department, in a statement issued late on Saturday, said its enforcement officers found 95 boa constrictors, two rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle inside the luggage.

Boa constrictors are subject to regulations or a complete ban in international commercial trade as they are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

The statement said Wong would remain in detention for two days. Under Malaysian law, if found guilty, he could face seven years in jail and fines of up to 100,000 ringgit for each animal or both.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Wong had previously pleaded guilty to a trafficking in the United States in 2001 and was sentenced to 71 months in jail.

TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring organisation, said Malaysia must "rise to the challenge" of confronting new evidence of its role as an hub for those engaged in wildlife smuggling.

"Their attempt at mocking Malaysia's legal system must be dealt with head-on," said Kanitha Krishnasamy, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia Senior Programme Officer.

On Friday, Thai customs officials found a two-month-old tiger stashed in a bag filled with tiger toys which had been checked in for an international passenger flight.

[kueytoc]

NZ cleans up after quake that tore new fault line

By ROB GRIFFITH,Associated Press Writer - Sunday, September 5

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – The powerful earthquake that smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted rail lines around the New Zealand city of Christchurch also ripped a new fault line in the Earth's surface, a geologist said Sunday.

At least 500 buildings, including 90 in the downtown area, have been designated as destroyed by the 7.1-magnitude quake that struck at 4:35 a.m. Saturday near the South Island city of 400,000 people. Most other buildings sustained only minor damage.

Only two serious injuries were reported from the quake as chimneys and walls of older buildings were reduced to rubble and crumbled to the ground. Prime Minister John Key said it was a miracle no one was killed.

Part of the reason the city escaped major injuries was because the quake happened before dawn, Key said.

"If this had happened five hours earlier or five hours later (when many more people were in the city), there would have been absolute carnage in terms of human life," he told TV One News Sunday.

The quake cut power across the region, blocked roads with debris, and disrupted gas and water supplies, but Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said services were being restored Sunday.

Power was back to 90 percent of the city and water supply had resumed for all but 15 to 20 percent of residents, he said. Portable toilets have been provided and tanks of fresh water placed around the city for residents.

Parker said it would take a long time to fully fix some core services such as water and sewage. "Our first priority is just people," he said. "That's our worry."

Up to 90 extra police officers were flown into Christchurch to help, and troops were likely to join the recovery effort on Monday, he said.

As the recovery work gathered pace, forecasters warned strong winds would buffet the area, creating problems with flying debris.

WeatherWatch forecaster Philip Duncan said gale force winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and stronger "could cause serious issues for trees and buildings that were weakened in (Saturday's) huge earthquake."

Specialist engineering teams began assessing damage to all central city buildings on Sunday, said Paul Burns of the city's search and rescue service. Officials said schools across the region would remain closed for the next two days to allow time to check whether they were safe.

Canterbury University geology professor Mark Quigley said what "looks to us that it could be a new fault" had ripped across the ground and pushed some surface areas up. The quake was caused by the ongoing collision between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates, said Quigley, who is leading a team trying to pin down the source of the quake.

"One side of the earth has lurched to the right ... up to 11 feet (3.5 meters) and in some places been thrust up," Quigley told National Radio.

"The long linear fracture on the earth's surface does things like break apart houses, break apart roads. We went and saw two houses that were completely snapped in half by the earthquake," he said.

Roger Bates, whose dairy farm at Darfield was close to the quake's epicenter 19 miles (30 kilometers) west of Christchurch, said the new fault line had ripped up the surface of his land.

"The whole dairy farm is like the sea now, with real (soil) waves right across the dairy farm. We don't have physical holes (but) where the fault goes through it's been raised a meter or meter and a half (three to five feet)," he told National Radio.

"Trouble is, I've lost two meters (six feet) of land off my boundary," he added.

Experts said the low number of injuries in the powerful quake also reflects the country's strict building codes.

"Thank God for earthquake strengthening 10 years ago," the Anglican dean of Christchurch, the Rev. Peter Beck, told TV One News on Sunday.

Euan Smith, professor of Geophysics at Victoria University, speculated that the very soft soils of Christchurch had "acted like a shock absorber over a short period ... doing less damage to smaller buildings."

Prime Minister Key, who flew to Christchurch to inspect the damage, said the city "looks like something off a movies set," with wrecked buildings, buckled roads, broken water mains and sewage systems and some flooding caused by broken water pipes.

Scientists from GNS Science began installing 40 portable seismographs in the region Sunday to record seismic data from the continuing stream of aftershocks. More than 60 had been recorded by mid-afternoon Sunday.

Seismologists study aftershock sequences to help learn more about the mechanics of the main quake, and to check whether stress in the Earth's crust has been transferred to other faults in the region.

New Zealand sits above an area where two tectonic plates collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year _ but only about 150 are felt by residents. Fewer than 10 a year do any damage.

New Zealand's last major earthquake registered magnitude 7.8 and hit South Island's Fiordland region on July 16, 2009, moving the southern tip of the country 12 inches (30 centimeters) closer to Australia, seismologist Ken Gledhill said at the time.

Associated Press Writer Ray Lilley in Wellington contributed to this report.

[kueytoc]

Quake-hit New Zealand city remains shut

Reuters - 59 minutes ago

WELLINGTON - A state of emergency after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake is keeping much of New Zealand's second-biggest city shut on Monday but financial markets have mostly shrugged off the quake as the long-term economic impact is seen limited.

Many businesses in the South Island city of Christchurch remain closed as a state of emergency was extended until Wednesday after the country's most damaging earthquake in 80 years tore up roads, smashed water and sewer pipes, and severely damaged many buildings.

New Zealand's dollar eased slightly while government debt fell on fears of increased bond issuance but stocks were higher as the estimated NZ$2 billion damage bill was seen relatively light and could not derail a rally fuelled from overseas markets.

Economists predicted the quake could eat into New Zealand's economic growth this year and keep interest rates on hold until there is more clarity on the impact.

"Overall there will be a negative impact on economic activity, with Christchurch accounting for about 15 percent of GDP," ANZ-National Bank senior economist Khoon Goh said, adding the exact impact cannot yet be quantified.

"It also means the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will most likely be on hold in September," Goh said.

But some predicted the quake -- which claimed no lives and resulted in only two serious injuries -- could add to growth in 2011 as rebuilding efforts ramp up.

"We've got to move to the rebuilding and refocusing stages, how we get Christchurch up and running again," Prime Minister John Key told Television New Zealand.

Shares of New Zealand's largest listed company, construction and building materials firm Fletcher Building Ltd jumped more than 4 percent on opening and last traded up 4.5 percent NZ$8.10.

Insurance and financial company AMP Ltd fell 4.6 percent in early trade to NZ$6.30.

The government's state-disaster fund, the Earthquake Commission, is expected to be able to cover the cost of repairing the damage.

The epicentre of the quake was 20 kilometres to the west of Christchurch, a city of 350,000 which supports the agricultural-based economy of New Zealand's South Island.

The Christchurch City Council estimated about 500 buildings have been damaged, with hundreds of people spending the first two nights in emergency shelters.

The quake was among the 10 strongest recorded in New Zealand, which sits between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, and records around 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which around 20 top magnitude 5.0.

It is the most damaging quake in New Zealand since the North Island city of Napier was devastated in 1931.

The last fatal quake was in 1968 when an earthquake measuring 7.1 killed three people on the South Island's West Coast.

[kueytoc]

Big aftershock again rocks New Zealand city

By ROB GRIFFITH,Associated Press Writer - Wednesday, September 8

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – A magnitude-5.1 aftershock that hammered New Zealand's earthquake-hit city of Christchurch on Wednesday morning sparked evacuations and fresh damage to buildings, causing authorities to extend a state of emergency for another week.

The latest quake, just four miles (6.4 kilometers) below the surface and centered six miles (10 kilometers) southeast of the city, was felt by residents as the strongest aftershock in Christchurch since Saturday's 7.1 magnitude earthquake wrecked hundreds of buildings. Nobody was reported injured by the latest temblor.

"My guts is just churning up here. When will this thing end? It is like living in a maelstrom," Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said as workers streamed from the city's emergency headquarters.

"We have got staff in tears, we have got fire engines going through the middle of the city, power is out and a lot of people are very, very churned up by that," he told the NewstalkZB radio station. "It was a devastatingly, vicious sharp blow to the city."

Initial reports from geological agency GNS Science that the Wednesday morning temblor was magnitude-6.1 were quickly corrected downward.

Officials closed the city's main road tunnel for inspection due to concerns that the aftershock may have caused cracking to the tunnel and retaining walls leading to it, New Zealand Transport Agency local spokesman Peter Connors said.

The tunnel, built in the 1960s, links Christchurch city to the port of Lyttelton.

More than 140 aftershocks have rattled the region since Saturday, and earthquake experts warned Tuesday that another strong temblor might hammer the region in coming days.

The weekend's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake smashed buildings and homes, wrecked roads and disrupted the central city, though nobody was killed and only two people were seriously injured _ which authorities attributed to good building codes and the quake's early morning timing.

"It was as strong as the earthquake in Haiti earlier this year, which caused widespread devastation and is estimated to have killed approximately 230,000 people," Prime Minister John Key said. "Although no one lost their life ... families have been traumatized and lost their valued possessions."

On Wednesday, Key traveled north of the city to inspect houses in the town of Kaiapoi that had been torn from their foundations by the quake.

"It shows you how well the building code works in New Zealand as they had been picked up, ripped apart and yet the structure has survived enough that people could escape," Key said after looking through one wrecked house.

"As this disaster unfolds what we're seeing is some areas are much more badly affected than we thought they were, and, in fact, the damage is much greater than we thought it was," Key told reporters.

The city center remained cordoned off by troops Wednesday, as authorities extended a state of civil emergency for another seven days. Only building owners and workers are allowed into the central city to begin clearing up the mess _ with much of the center taking on the mantle of a ghost town

Quake experts said aftershocks likely will continue for several weeks _ and the worst of them may be yet to come.

"It is still possible that we'll have a magnitude-6 in the next week, and people ought to be aware of that, particularly if they are around structures which are already damaged," said Ken Gledhill, a monitor at GNS Science. "For a shallow earthquake like this, they will go on for weeks."

Key called off a planned nine-day trip to Britain and France, citing what he called the quake zone's continuing "instability."

The New Zealand government has said it plans to pay at least 90 percent of the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to rebuild Christchurch's water, waste water and road infrastructure.

In a statement Tuesday to Parliament, Key pledged to remove bottlenecks to reconstruction and said the government "is prepared to step up financially to rebuild the region."

The main quake struck at 4:35 a.m. Saturday near the South Island city of 400,000 people, ripping open a new fault line in the earth's surface, destroying hundreds of buildings and cutting power, which has been gradually restored in recent days.

The government has said that at least 100,000 of the region's 160,000 homes sustained some damage.

New Zealand sits above an area where two tectonic plates collide. The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year _ but only about 150 are felt by residents. Fewer than 10 a year do any damage.

New Zealand's last major earthquake registered magnitude 7.8 and hit South Island's Fiordland region on July 16, 2009, moving the southern tip of the country 12 inches (30 centimeters) closer to Australia.

Associated Press Writer Ray Lilley in Wellington contributed to this report.

[kueytoc]

New Zealand extends emergency following aftershock

AFP - 59 minutes ago

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) - – New Zealand authorities extended a state of emergency in quake-hit Christchurch Wednesday after the most damaging aftershock since a powerful weekend quake.

The 5.0-magnitude aftershock struck just below the surface at 7:49 am (1949 GMT Tuesday) sending frightened residents rushing into the streets, cutting power supplies and bringing down loose material from already damaged buildings.

The city's civil defence headquarters and a welfare centre sheltering people made homeless in Saturday's tremor were temporarily evacuated.

An estimated 1,000 motorists in a 1.9-kilometre (1.2-mile) tunnel linking Christchurch to the nearby port of Lyttleton received a scare when the aftershock opened up cracks in the structure.

The tunnel was closed as a precaution but later reopened after engineers found the damage was superficial.

The latest quake was just one kilometre (half a mile) deep and much closer to the city centre than Saturday's quake, which caused billions of dollars of damage, seismologists said.

The civil defence ministry said a state of emergency in Christchurch due to expire at midday Wednesday (0000 GMT) had been extended for another week.

Prime Minister John Key said while authorities were keen for the city and surrounding areas to return to normal as soon as possible, public safety remained the top priority.

"As this disaster unfolds what we're seeing is some areas are much more badly affected than we thought they were and, in fact, the damage is much greater than we thought it was," he told reporters on a tour of some of the region's worst-hit areas.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said the intensity of the latest quake reduced many emergency workers to tears.

"It was a devastatingly, vicious sharp blow to the city," he told NewstalkZB radio. "This was a terrifying moment."

Parker said the force of the latest aftershock meant there would "inevitably" be more damage to already weakened buildings, adding that the ongoing aftershocks were taking their toll on the city's 340,000 residents.

"We have got staff in tears, we have got fire engines going through the middle of the city, power is out and a lot of people are very, very churned up by that."

More than 100 aftershocks have rocked the area since Saturday.

"I'm bloody terrified all over again," resident Colleen Simpson told the Stuff website after Wednesday's aftershock.

Christchurch City Council spokeswoman Diane Keenan said: "The jolt was absolutely huge. A really big, stiff jolt. And it was vertical, rather than side to side like the first one. If you were in a car the road moved up and down."

The latest quake came as staff were making their way to work at the few shops and companies in the inner city which have been able to open this week. They were immediately told to leave.

Nobody was killed in Saturday's powerful quake, although many residents reported close shaves. The Canterbury health service said some minor cuts and bruises were reported after Wednesday's aftershock but nothing serious.

Parker said assessment teams were heading into the quake-scarred city to check the damage.

"We were starting to think, maybe, just maybe, we are over the worst of this and now we have had this shocking event," he said.

Officials estimate up to 100,000 homes were damaged in Saturday's quake, which caused damage estimated at two billion dollars (1.45 billion US).

[kueytoc]

Sharp aftershock rattles quake-weary New Zealand city

Reuters - 2 hours 56 minutes ago

WELLINGTON - Authorities in New Zealand's quake-ravaged Christchurch city extended a state of emergency for another seven days on Wednesday, as a strong aftershock cut power and closed a key highway, with the region told it can expect quakes for months to come.

The magnitude 5.1 aftershock at around 8 p.m. British time was not the largest since Saturday's 7.1 major quake, but scientists said it felt the strongest as it was shallower and located closer to the centre of the country's second-largest city.

"There will continue to be aftershocks for months, but the frequency and magnitude will diminish over time," Jennifer Coppola, a scientist at state-funded science agency GNS Science said.

There have been about 135 aftershocks above magnitude 3, including two at 5.4 since Saturday, and the largest may not have struck yet.

"The rule of thumb is that the largest aftershock should be expected to be about one order of magnitude below the main quake, so about six," Coppola told Reuters.

The latest shake closed the highway between the city and the adjoining port town of Lyttelton with reports of cracks in a tunnel.

There were reports of further debris falling from already damaged buildings, and people were evacuated from some offices in the central business district as checks were made.

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said every aftershock was a setback to a city trying to get back on its feet.

"We're gradually making progress but we're in a very unpredictable situation," Parker told Radio New Zealand.

The main quake which struck at 4.35 a.m. local time on Saturday was New Zealand's most destructive since 1931, with an estimated 100,000 of the region's 160,000 homes believed to have been damaged. There were no deaths and only two serious injuries in the city of 350,000.

A state of emergency, which was due to expire later on Wednesday was extended to give authorities the necessary powers to control and direct recovery operations.

The latest aftershock temporarily cut power to about 30,000 customers but supplies were quickly restored.

Around 500 consumers, mainly in rural areas, are still without power, and water and sewage services have been restored to around 90 percent of the city. More than 300 people are in welfare centres because their houses are uninhabitable.

The initial estimate of repairing the damage has been put at NZ$2 billion and Prime Minister John Key has pledged the government will step in to help with the cost of rebuilding.

The quake's epicentre was a previously unknown fault line about 20 km .

The quake was among the 10 strongest recorded in New Zealand and the most damaging since the North Island city of Napier was devastated in 1931.

New Zealand, which sits between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, records on average more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which about 20 would normally top magnitude 5.0.