At least 65 people died in a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in New Zealand city, Christchurch, the local authorities say.

An earthquake struck near Christchurch at lunchtime Tuesday with the epicenter at the depth of 5 km, BBC reported.

Many people are still trapped in buildings waiting for rescuers to get them out, nzherald.com website reported. Many buildings collapsed, while electricity and water supply is still blocked.

In 1988 a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Armenian city of Spitak. At least 25,000 people were killed. The city of Spitak was fully destroyed, and there was partial damage to the cities of Gyumri and Vanadzor.

Photo Vesti.Ru