Wellington, September 05 (Saba) - A series of aftershocks and gale-force winds have rattled Christchurch, New Zealand's second-largest city, following the previous day s devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake, according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).

The quake early Saturday struck Christchurch and a large surrounding area of rural towns and farms on South Island, bringing down power lines, ripping up roads, smashing water and sewage pipes, and wrecking building facades. There were no deaths and only a few injuries.

Many in the city had a sleepless night, with seismologists recording 20 substantial aftershocks in the 12 hours to 8 am, the largest of 5.1 magnitude on the Richter scale.
About 250 people spent the night in welfare centers set up for those whose homes were wrecked by the most devastating earthquake to hit a major New Zealand population centre in nearly 90 years.

Civil defense officials urged those able to make temporary repairs to their damaged homes to act as quickly as possible, because wind and flying debris could make it too dangerous by later Sunday.

Civil defense officials estimated that more than 500 commercial buildings in Christchurch were damaged by the quake.

This includes about 90 buildings in the central business district, where an overnight curfew was imposed because of the continued danger of falling masonry and glass from crumbling properties.

Army units have been put on standby to help, and a state of emergency is likely to remain in place for several days in the city of nearly 400,000 people.