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Summary New Zealand Prime Minister John Key warned the country may be facing its greatest tragedy Saturday as the death toll from this week's earthquake surged to 144, with 200 missing.
Key said Tuesdays tremor, which toppled office buildings and rained debris on busy Christchurch streets, may be New Zealands single most tragic event, outstripping a 1931 quake which killed 256.Entire blocks will have to be razed after the catastrophe, which left up to a third of the city centre facing demolition along with parts of outlying suburbs, and cut power and water supplies to most of the 390,000 population.Key, who met relatives of those dead and missing in the stricken city, announced a tribute of two minutes silence on March 1, one a week after the quake struck at 12:51 pm on Tuesday.Police said 144 bodies had been taken to a temporary morgue, and there were grave concerns for the 200 listed as missing. They include a large number of Asian students feared lost in a collapsed language school.Power has now been restored to most of the city but many of its 390,000 residents are without water and relying on supplies brought by tanker.Officials said more than 62,000 homes have no water supplies and 100,000 properties are without sewerage, while 800 portable toilets were being put in place to help ward off the threat of disease.
