Aftershocks continued to rattle Christchurch on Tuesday, as authorities said an elderly man died when series of powerful tremors hit the New Zealand city a day earlier.
In what has become an all-too familiar routine for a community hit by three major earthquakes since September, weary residents began cleaning their properties and emergency crews rushed to repair power lines and burst water mains.
The city, still recovering from a 6.3-magnitude quake in February that killed 181 people, endured more that 50 aftershocks on Monday, the strongest a 6.0 tremor that toppled already-weakened buildings.
More than 20,000 homes were left without electricity on a bitterly cold night and jangled nerves were frayed further when a 4.7-magnitude aftershock jolted residents awake at 2.48 am on Monday.
“A very rough night in the city,” Christchurch mayor Bob Parker told Radio New Zealand.
Parker initially said the city could take comfort in the fact that there were no fatalities, but even that consolation was stripped away when the Canterbury health board confirmed the tremors killed a nursing home resident.
The board said the elderly man died as a direct result of Monday’s quakes but further details were not available.
The number of people injured was also revised upward from 10 to 45, two of whom remained in Christchurch hospital.
Businessman Joe Arts said the latest tremors were a major setback for New Zealand’s second largest city.
“It’s like we’ve gone backwards,” he told AFP as he surveyed his city centre printing shop, which was damaged but remained open after a 7.0 quake in September but has been closed since the February disaster.