New Zealand Faces $1.4 Billion Bill After Earthquake
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New Zealand faces a NZ$2 billion ($1.4 billion) damage bill and a massive clean-up after Christchurch, its second-biggest city, was hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that closed the central business district.
Authorities placed the city of 348,000 on New Zealand’s South Island under a state of emergency after the quake struck at 4:35 a.m. local time on Sept. 4, cutting power, damaging roads, rupturing sewer lines and water pipes and ripping facades off buildings. No deaths were reported. Prime Minister John Key allocated NZ$5 million to a rebuilding fund today, with economic development minister Gerry Brownlee to oversee reconstruction.