Emergency crews launched a major clean-up on Monday following a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in Wellington, as aftershocks continued to rattle the New Zealand capital.
The quake, the strongest of scores of tremors to hit central New Zealand since Friday, sent masonry and glass plunging into city streets as panicked locals bolted for cover.
It struck at 5.09pm on Sunday 57 kilometres south-southwest of Wellington at a depth of 14 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.
The city’s downtown area was eerily quiet on Monday morning, with authorities urging office workers to stay at home so emergency crews could carry out damage assessment and clean up debris.
Chunks of fallen masonry were visible on some pavements and Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said there were fears more glass could drop from office towers which were sent swaying by the seismic jolt.
Wade-Brown said there were only four reports of minor injuries from the quake which occurred when the central business district was largely empty.