Christchurch Earthquake

It is just one hour since I heard and saw reports coming in of today's devastating earthquake in New Zealand's lovely Christchurch, which was starting to recover from the lesser event six months ago. We are seeing scenes of the near-complete wrecking of the city centre and much loss of life - the number inevitably about to climb greatly as more bodies are found under dangerously unstable rubble. Many people in Australia have family and friends in Christchurch and its surrounds. An indication of the scale of this event is that the city's airport and all flights are currently closed down, except for emergency medical evacuation.

Everyone's thoughts tonight will be with our trans-Tasman neighbours.