Powerful quake raffles New Zealand

 Two people are confirmed to have died after a powerful earthquake in New Zealand caused a series of aftershocks, causing damage to buildings and leading residents to evacuate their homes for higher ground to avoid tsunami waves.

Authorities said they were not yet declaring a national emergency, saying the regions are coping well.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the country's South Island just after midnight on Sunday, with the epicentre recorded 57 miles north-northeast of the eastern city of Christchurch.

Shortly afterwards a two-metre high tsunami was recorded in Kaikoura on the east coast of the South Island, with smaller but “very dangerous” waves later hitting the coast near Wellington, according to local weather site Weather Watch. 

The Civil Defence authority advised South Island residents living on the east coast and those living on the nearby Chatham Islands to move to higher ground.

On Monday morning a strong new tremor with a magnitude of 6.2, struck New Zealand's South Island, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Helicopters with medical and rescue personnel are being sent near the epicentre of the quake, where it opened up snaking fissures in roads and triggered landslides. 

St John's Ambulance Dion Rosario said in a statement: “We are starting to get reports of injuries from the earthquake area, including Culverden area and Kaikoura.