Zero Casualties in NZ Quake

Buildings are reduced to their skeletal structures in New Zealand’s second-largest city, Christchurch, after being hit by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake around 4:35 a.m. Friday. Some 500 buildings collapsed in the city of 400,000 people but in stark contrast to Haiti, which was pummeled by a quake of similar magnitude, no reports of deaths came. Experts say the minimized damage is due to New Zealand`s strict construction regulations, soft soil that cushioned the shock from the quake, and the timing of the earthquake at dawn, when few people were in the downtown area.