Many parts of Christchurch were left in ruins after the quake, (Photo: The BBC).
The death toll from the 6.3-magnitude earthquake which hit Christchurch in New Zealand on Tuesday has risen to 77.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has declared a national state of emergency.
There are now 55 bodies in a morgue and another 20 being transported there following the tremor.
The police have said there is "incredible carnage right throughout the city", with "bodies littering the streets".
More than 300 people are still missing.
Forty-eight were pulled out from collapsed buildings alive overnight.
The earthquake struck at a shallow depth of 5 kilometres or 3.1 miles around midday Tuesday when the South Island city was at its busiest.
It was Christchurch's second major tremor in five months, and New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster in 80 years.
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