A massive 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, causing major damage. INSIDE EDITION has the latest details as rescuers comb through the rubble in search of survivors.
The search for survivors goes on inside the devastated city of Christchurch, New Zealand.
The city, which is the size of St. Louis, was hit by a massive 6.3 magnitude quake.
A video that was shot moments after the quake hit shows a cliff collapsing and a building destroyed by a huge boulder. It had crushed the building and the cars.
The spire of the 19th century Christchurch Cathedral was destroyed. There were worshipers trapped inside.
A newspaper reporter recorded a video diary as she saw the heartbreaking ruins for the first time. "The spire of the Christchurch cathedral has fallen down. There's dead people. There's people crushed," she said.
One terrified woman waited for rescue on a ledge of an office building that had been reduced to a pile of rubble as people shouted to her, "They'll be coming in from the back. They'll be coming soon."
People emerged from collapsed buildings, streaming with blood. Men carried their injured co-workers out of the rubble any way they could. One man lowered himself to safety by rope from a high-rise. And rescue workers heaved chunks of masonry with their bare hands to reach the injured.
Many of those who were killed had been walking on a narrow street when the quake hit at lunchtime. A downtown park became a triage center and a safe haven from falling rubble. One woman and her dog escaped falling debris by just inches.
New Zealand's spectacular landscape is best known in America as the location of the Lord of the Rings movies.
Now New Zealand's Prime Minister says the country faces its worst natural disaster ever.
"New Zealand may be staring down what is its darkest day as we take stock of a city that has been utterly wrecked," said the Prime Minister.
