'Utter devastation' after major quake

Wellington becomes a virtual ghost town with workers ordered to stay away from city

A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake pummeled central New Zealand on Monday, killing at least two people, damaging roads and buildings and setting off hundreds of strong aftershocks.

Emergency response teams flew by helicopter to the region at the epicenter of the tremor, which struck just after midnight some 90 kilometers northeast of Christchurch in the South Island, amid reports of injuries and collapsed buildings.