Gallery: Rescuers try to save New Zealand quake victims

Efforts continue to pull out some 100 people thought trapped in collapsed rubble after 6.3 magnitude earthquake hits Christchurch.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Zealand earthquake 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
New Zealand earthquake 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck one of New Zealand's biggest cities Tuesday at the height of a busy workday, toppling tall buildings and churches, crushing buses and killing at least 65 people in one of the country's worst natural disasters.

RELATED:Israeli feared missing in NZ quakeIt was the second major quake to hit Christchurch, a city of 350,000, in five months, though Tuesday's temblor caused far more destruction than a stronger September quake that struck before dawn on a weekend. More than 100 people, including as many as a dozen visiting Japanese students, were thought to be trapped in the rubble as darkness — and drizzling rain — fell Tuesday night.