Earthquake Hits New Zealand's South Island

A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck much of New Zealand's South Island early Saturday and caused widespread damage, but there were just two reports of serious injuries.

Looters broke into some damaged shops, police said. No tsunami warning has been issued.

Photo by: Kebabette Sharp aftershocks continued to rock the area, residents reported.

The quake, which hit 19 miles (30 kilometers) west of the southern city of Christchurch, shook a wide area, toppling buildings and cutting off power and water in at least parts of the city. The area hospital was still functioning, but running on a generator, according to a website run by the country's Ministry for Civil Defence.

By comparison, the quake that struck Port au Prince, Haiti, in January was of 7.0 magnitude and 16 miles away from the city.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported the Christchurch quake as being 7.4 magnitude, but subsequently downgraded its strength.

Christchurch police reported road damage in parts of the city of 400,000 people, with a series of sharp aftershocks rocking the area. Police officers cordoned off some streets where rubble was strewn about. Video showed parked cars crushed by heaps of fallen bricks, and buckled roads.

"There is considerable damage in the central city and we've also had reports of looting, just shop windows broken and easy picking of displays," Police inspector Mike Coleman told New Zealand's National Radio. "It's very unsafe to be out and about."

Police inspector Mike Coleman told a local radio station it was "very unsafe to be out and about."

Police Inspector Alf Stewart told the radio that some people had been arrested for looting.

"We have some reports of people smashing (storefront) windows and trying to grab some property that is not theirs ... we've got police on the streets and we're dealing with that," he said.

Christchurch Hospital said it had treated two men with serious injuries and a number of people with minor injuries.

One was hit by a falling chimney and was in a serious condition in intensive care, while a second was badly cut by glass, hospital spokeswoman Michele Hider said.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said the "sharp, vicious earthquake has caused significant damage in parts of the city ... with walls collapsed that have fallen into the streets."

Chimneys and walls had fallen from older buildings, with roads blocked, traffic lights out and power, gas and water supplies disrupted, he said.

Photo by: Layton Duncan Amateur photos, like this one, flooded the Internet as local residents captured the damage with mobile phones.

"The fronts of at least five buildings in the central city have collapsed and rubble is strewn across many roads," Christchurch resident Angela Morgan told The Associated Press.

"Roads have subsided where water mains have broken and a lot of people evacuated in panic from seaside areas for fear of a tsunami," she said, adding that "there is quite significant damage, really, with reports that some people were trapped in damaged houses."

Suburban dweller Mark O'Connell said his house was full of smashed glass, food tossed from shelves, with sets of drawers, TVs and computers tipped over.

"She was a beauty, we were thrown from wall to wall as we tried to escape down the stairs to get to safety," he told the AP. "It was pitch black (with the power cut) and we walked through smashed glass everywhere on the floor."