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Information as it came to hand on the day of the one-week anniversary of the Canterbury quake.
Midnight: A much quieter day on the aftershocks front, just seven were felt today ranging in size from 3.4 to 4.2 on the Richter scale. This compares to 12 on Friday and 16 on Thursday. The last quake felt tonight was at 5.13pm. That's a wrap for the night on tvnz.co.nz's live updates.
11.30pm Sixty firefighters and police officers who lost their homes in the Canterbury earthquake are still turning up to work despite their own hardships. Fire Service Acting National Commander Paul McGill said 35 fire service staff had lost their homes. Canterbury District Commander Dave Cliff said 25 police staff had lost their homes and were also still on-duty.
10:30pm: Plans are underway for a relief concert for Cantabrians. Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker the concert's focus will be on celebrating how lucky the region was to escape without loss of life.
10:00pm: The government is looking to pass emergency quake legislation next week to help with the rebuilding process in Canterbury.
9:46pm: St John Ambulance Crews have attended a significantly high number of cardiac-related callouts since last Saturday's 7.1 quake.
9:30pm: Water supply is expected to be available to every Christchurch resident by the end of the weekend.
8:35pm: Christchurch architects are concerned that too many earthquake-damaged heritage buildings are being demolished unnecessarily.
8:30pm: A fatal house fire in Canterbury earlier today is not connected to the region's earthquakes. A man aged in his 30s is dead following a blaze at a property near Darfield.
7:30pm: Veteran race driver Greg Murphy has thrown his weight behind the Christchurch Mayoral Earthquake Appeal, administered by the Red Cross.
7:00pm: Swimming New Zealand has move this month's national age group short course championships to Wellington, following the earthquakes.
6:00pm: At 5:11pm the Canterbury area experienced a 3.6 magnitude aftershock, centred 20 kilometres southwest of Christchurch.
Three minutes later at 5:13pm, another 3.6 shake in Christchurch, centred 20 kilometres southeast of Darfield.
4:30pm: Six extra staff have arrived in Canterbury today to assist stretched local health services. They join 36 staff who arrived yesterday.
4:00pm The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has received more than 44,000 claims to damaged residential properties in Canterbury, and it's struggling to meet demand.
3:35pm: The Christchurch City Council said all Canterbury residents with damaged properties and contractors should seek advice before carrying out any demolition work.It's estimated that there are over 2000 buildings which may need to be torn down.
Emergency demolition work is only legally allowed for protecting life, health or serious damage to adjoining properties.
2.45pm: Civil Defence Director John Hamilton says agencies in the Canterbury region are gradually restoring services but the pace of restoration is slowing because the remaining outages are taking longer to fix.
2.15pm: Canterbury police are warning opportunists not to try and use welfare centres, set up for those without homes following last week's earthquake, as more comfortable places to stay than their own homes.
1.30pm: The Earthquake Commission has announced it has registered over 44,000 claims for damage to residential property from the Canterbury earthquakes.
EQC's insurance manager, Lance Dixon, said their immediate priority has been to "ensure that we have sufficient resources to lodge these claims and make contact with property owners whose houses were or are uninhabitable or not weatherproof."
12.30pm: Christchurch mayor Bob Parker has announced his council's Kilmore St and Tuam St car park buildings are open free of charge for the weekend. Other city council car park buildings remain closed and are currently being assessed.
12.00pm: Kaiapoi's town museum has had to be demolished. Mayor Ron Keating said fortunately all the exhibits were saved after contractors put in safety props so staff could get access. Keating said the faultline ran directly under the museum.
11.45am: Banks are pulling the rug from under homeowners in Canterbury, by cancelling property deals. Newstalk ZB has learned there was a flurry of activity yesterday - normally the changeover day for a house sale.
Usually about 150 deals would go through each week but the banks are withdrawing finance until they confirm a property is alll right to purchase, or covered by insurance.
11.00am: Motorists travelling between Christchurch and Picton are being advised to allow plenty of time for their trips and to expect delays with the closure of SH1 south of Kaikoura following a large landslide requiring significant diversions.
10.30am: John Key is back in Christchurch for a further tour of the damage. The Prime Minister has joined local officials for a briefing before looking over the wastewater plant at Bromley. He will also be visiting Bexley and Brooklands.
9.45am: Police are warning residents to check tradesmen's qualifications and get a second opinion after reports of opportunists offering to remove people's damaged chimneys and do other repair work.
9.30am: New Zealand Post has cancelled all its mail deliveries in Canterbury today. The company's CEO Brian Roche says they need to give staff and contractors a break. Post shops are open as normal.
9.01am: Magnitude 4.0 quake, 7km deep, within 5km of Darfield.
9.00am: Cafes, bars and restaurants will be open for business in central Christchurch today. Canterbury Hospitality Association says about 30 businesses on The Terrace and Cashel Street will open their doors.
8.36am: Magnitude 4.2 quake 20 km south-west of Christchurch.
8.30am: There are reports of the water being out again in houses in the Christchurch suburb of Bexley. The council says it's not aware of any fresh outages, but believes there still around nine streets which don't have water, some of them in the area. It's working to restore the supply.
8.00am: The testing of private sewerage pipes
in Kaiapoi begins this morning. As part of the effort to restore
services volunteers supervised by Civil Defence officials will be
testing land most affected by liquefaction.
The tests will assess whether there are breaks or blockages in the
pipes between homes and the main lines.
Almost 70 medical staff from around the country have arrived in Christchurch to relieve the pressure in local hospitals. The majority of staff are working in Christchurch and The Princess Margaret Hospitals, and in residential care facilities.
7.45am: It's been a quiet night in
Christchurch, although more than 260 people spent the night in
welfare centres.
Emergency services are reporting no major incidents.
The cordon around the central city was lifted last night, except
for the intersection at Hereford and Manchester Streets.
Prime Minister John Key will be in the city today taking another
look at the damage in eastern and coastal suburbs.
6.30am: Three aftershocks struck Canterbury
overnight, marking a relatively quiet night in the region. Two
tremors measuring 3.4 on the Richter Scale hit near Darfield at
2.44am and 4.03am.
Another 3.9 magnitude quake was registered at 5.38am, 30km south
east of Christchurch.
4.35am: It is one week since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Canterbury region, causing widespread damage but no loss of life.
To see day seven as it happened click here.
