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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> an earthquake measuring 6.3 has struck the new zealand city of christchurch. a state of emergency. >> is surreal. it is like a dream. you are going to wake up any minute, you know? >> welcome to bbc news, broadcast to our viewers on pbs in america and elsewhere around the world. coming up, libyan leader muammar qaddafi clings to power. he tells the world he is still in in -- in tripoli. new zealand's government has said it is on able to confirm

reports of multiple deaths after an earthquake with a magnitude 6.3, which struck near the city of christchurch. buildings collapsed, and according to the fire service, a number of people are trapped inside buildings. initial reports say there has been widespread damage. concrete paving listed -- lifted by least 1 meter in some places, in rising water. extensive destruction in christchurch, but on that occasion, there were no fatalities. let's cross live to sydney and get the very latest from our correspondent there. nick, we heard just a short time ago during a news conference from there, where the it focuses very much on the search and rescue operation. >> yes, they are sending search and rescue teams from all over,

australia, as well, and seeing if they need more assistance from elsewhere around the world. the focus right now is on the central business district, the cbd, where most of the people still trapped are trying to be rescued from some of these office buildings where there are pancaked on top of each other. they simply collapsed under the force, the magnitude of this earthquake. it was not as strong as the earthquake back in september, but it was closer to the surface and closer to the center of christchurch. it was a busier time. the one backed last year was on the weekend. this is a tuesday, obviously. there are a lot more people at work, a lot more people on the streets, and we are hearing

these reports, seeing the trace church steeple collapsed -- the christ church steeple collapsed. >> nick, the defense minister was not able to give us a clear no. on the people affected in terms of injuries and those who are wounded. >> yes, i mean, they are very reluctant at the moment to attach a figure to the number of fatalities. people are saying there are multiple fatalities, and, indeed, that has been borne out from eyewitness reports. we're hearing about dead bodies under the rubble, dead bodies on the sides of the streets. we do not have an idea yet how many people have been killed. back in september, miraculously, no one was killed. 100 people were injured, but this is something very different. there will be a certain death toll in this earthquake i think,

because you can see from the level of destruction in the central business districts. it is far worse than the destruction we were seeing in september, and an icon of the, a measure of that, was the cathedral. that was seen as a symbol. the earthquake did not cause any structural damage, and this time, the steeple collapsed, and i think that is a very powerful symbol. >> ok, thank you, nick. nick speaking from sydney in australia. the mayor of christ church has said a state of emergency has been declared. this is a very black day for the city. let's speak to christopher, who experienced this earthquake. he joins me on the line now.

christopher, explain to us where you were when the earthquake struck. >> i was at an office in my house. when the earthquake struck, as earthquakes do, it came with absolutely no warning. i went from sitting there to being thrown on the floor, and my computer printer, the computer screen, things falling. it was extremely violent. delta like the whole building came down. luckily for me, it did not, and no others were not so lucky. >> a very worrying time for you. just describe for us if you can

help quickly you were able to get out and get into the open air. >> it probably took about -- it takes a while because the shaking does continue. it is not possible to walk basically with the shaking. i managed to get under a doorway. i had to get to another part of the house to make sure somebody else was ok. he knew exactly what to do to get to a safe spot. my older son and wife, it took me hours to give all of them. she was working. it was a fairly worrying time.

>> absolutely, christopher. we think you very much for your time speaking with us here on bbc world news. and the mayor of christchurch, reporting to you and the last hour or so. we welcome you to bbc news. thank you very much for your time. but to devastation. >> tremendously difficult scenes for us to look at. we want people to know the we have got our fellow citizens here. many of them are trapped in buildings as you and i talk, and this is a day we had hoped we would never see. we are out there. people are facing a lot of devastation. some of the operations are mobilized and in place. emergency services. rescue operations. we have been able to access

additional hospitals around the provinces and to move things out into those areas. our major hospital is open and functioning. we have opened a number of centers around the city, and we are now in the position of trying to build up a picture of this to try to quantify it in some way, but our main focus is on rescue right now. >> can you give us an idea of the number injured? >> there are fatalities. i am not in a position to give you numbers yet. from what we have got so far, a significant number of people are injured, and a significant number of people are still trapped in buildings. as we go further into the rescue operation of getting people out of the buildings, clearly we're

going to be presented with statistics that are going to be too. i will have to say that. there have been a number of deaths. we have already been made aware of that. we are in the phase at the moment of rescuing people, searching for each one of those people that are alive and working to get them out. >> i dissed want to find out where you were when the earthquake struck at lunchtime. >> i was in the council building on the top floor, sitting out on a balcony, having come out of a meeting. i was having a briefing session with my executive assistant when the quake struck, and we were unable to get back in. you had to go back in to be able

to get out. i was thrown. it was nothing compared to the issue that so many of our people are facing at this time. words to fail you, frankly. there is nothing in the lexicon of our language to convey what it feels like to be in this place at this time with what is in front of us at this moment. >> there are many new zealanders there in christ'schurch. we have spoken to a number of eyewitnesses here on bbc news in the last few hours who have spoken about your earthquake. however, many are pointing out that this one felt much worse to them. >> i think it was shallower and closer in the city.

with the richter scale or logarithmic scale, perhaps it was not as large. its proximity is what is important. it was violent, destructive. it was about the most unpleasant thing and you could ever imagine that he would go through, and everybody, as we did in september, was confronted with their own fatality during those terrible, terrible seconds. the shock and disbelief is something that is palpable in the faces of the people. but you later on that the fact of seeing other people trapped, -- but you layer on that, then you might be able to begin to grasp how terrible this is. >> does the city have a very clear emergency plan in place to

cope with this now? >> well, we had a very clear plan in place before the last quake. our approach is to plan in play again for this. we are in a country that does have this from time to time, seismic extremes, and rebuild for it, and there will be casualties today. i think our systems have proven to reduce the harm to people. >> i just want to ask you about what we were hearing during that news conference, a number of rescue teams on hand and heading to christchurch. can you confirm that? >> yes. i am down here at the frontline

pretty much, so i do know we have had a number of offers from around the country. we know that the australians always stand by us because they are our next-door neighbors. we actually have a united states-use zealand partnership convention in the city at the moment with a number of high ranking republican congressmen and women, and no doubt, they have also been offering their assistance. there is an american air force transit station here, and they always stand beside us. so we have no shortage of people. we have no shortage of those with the right skills that in our country, but there may be some need assistance that people will need, and we will not be shy and asked if that should be the case. again, we are a country that lives on a fault line. we know that. we rehearse for it, and right now, we live through it and are

doing everything we can. >> mayor parker, we appreciate your time here on the bbc. thank you very much. >> as you have been hearing, they were affected by 6.3 magnitude earthquake. we will keep you updated on the developments there as soon as we get them. still to come, unrest in libya. colonel moammar gaddafi clings to power. morocco says five burned bodies have been found from the demonstrations on sunday. the government said the protests were largely peaceful, but there have been problems. we have this report. >> year on amateur video is the evidence of the moroccan day of protest not being as peaceful as first thought. and young protester on the streets of tangier nearly averts

the police. and in this mobile phone video shot in another city, a building burns while a large group of protesters look on. morocco, it was said, was likely to avoid the chaos and confrontation sweeping the wider region. these were inspired by events in tunisia, calling for reform though but not revolution. somewhat akin to the overthrow, but others what his powers reduce. it is important not to over exaggerate the extent of violence in cities like tangier, but the interior ministry published its own figures, giving another view of the disturbance. they say that 33 public buildings and 24 others were attacked, with the deaths of

five people. the limited liberal reforms in recent years help make morocco different. in response to the protests, the king on monday promised reforms would go further. morocco has a young population just as angry about a lack of jobs and poverty. bbc news. >> this is bbc news. the headlines. an earthquake measuring 6.3 has rocked the new zealand city of knows -- of christchurch. a state of emergency in concerns there have been fatalities. the libyan leader colonel qaddafi has been signaling his defiance in the face of mounting revolt against his 41-year

world. he said he is still in the country's capital of tripoli and not as some of suggested in venezuela. we have this report. >> libyan state tv on monday night korea traditionally, more than it colonel muammar qaddafi 's regime, but this time, it was different. he came to deny rumors he had left tripoli or libya itself in the wake of the violence that has beset this country. >> talking to young people tonight, but i had to come here to prove that i am in tripoli, not venezuela, to do with the rumors. >> the reference to and

venezuela was in response to a rumor which came to the attention of foreign governments, including britain, and he was fleeing to hugo chavez, with whom he has warmed relations. on venezuelan tv, there was a similar denial of any such instant. interestingly, he made no reference whatsoever to the unrest in his country. north to the suggestions of hundred people had been killed in clashes with his government forces. bbc news. >> in the last 24 hours, there has been an escalation in violence it is said protesters set fire to a police station. the bbc does have a correspondent in the capital, but for her own safety, we cannot reveal her name. if she sent this report.

>> libya is burning. something that was unthinkable just one week ago. smuggled across the internet by activists. these are the images. this is the most serious challenge in has ever faced. army units may be wavering. today, and there was word that some had been ordered to attack protesters. libyans are finding their voice, even if they are still afraid to be identified. >> i have a friend who has only been a bride for less than one month, and her husband, he got shot.

he died. my cousin, his boy, less than 18, four bullets. we do not know what to do. >> there is mounting outside pressure. but there was the bizarre, rambling speech from the son of muammar qaddafi. even blaming the bbc for what is happening. >> we will agree on a new libya, a true libya. even this, or, libyans, be ready for separatism and civil war. forget oil and gas. forget resources. get ready for chaos. >> waving the green national flag. they're saying the leader is more vulnerable than ever. there is a report that many of the influential tribal leaders our siding with the opposition

-- are siding with the opposition. this is one area in the east, where his rise to power began and where it will end. the people unfurled the new flag for independence. tonight, the justice minister was reported to have also resigned over the use of force, but this is not a done deal. state tv was said to no more clashes would seem unavoidable. the country's ambassador to the u.s. was spoken to a little earlier. he left. >> i am with the people. i am representing the people on the street, the people who have been killed, the people have been destroyed.

their life has been dangerous. those are the people i support. about 40 years or more. it is very serious. working as much as i can, and i always believe that we can work for the interest of the people. we can reach reform in our country. the people, they walk in the street, and the people have handled the crisis in a very bad way, i am sorry to tell you. >> do you want to see muammar qaddafi leave the country and quit? >> what i want to see is that there is nobody in libya that is in control. what i want to see is the government, any remaining government, to handle the crisis in libya in a civilized way.

i want to see that the people's request for their freedom, for their hopes to be a reality. >> and what about these reports about fighter planes firing on protesters? >> that is what really is making me decide that i ought not to work for this government any more. >> there have been protests across the middle east across the violence. hundreds gathered outside the libyan embassy to voice their anger. we have the details. >> the libyan embassy in cairo, a rallying point for protesters, who came to show their anger at the events across the border. their chancts, but muammar

qaddafi is to blame for the violence and must leave now. >> three or four days. his son, yesterday, he came out, threatening his people. >> there were similar scenes and other parts of the middle east. this was in jordan, where a small crowd had gathered outside the libyan embassy. when it began, the message was not ambiguous. >> people are saying that violence will not suppress the people. people are demanding change, and the libyans are demanding change, -- >> and in europe, the clamor was for muammar qaddafi to leave immediately.

stories have begun to emerge of people who have fled the violence. >> guns. every corner. it is not safe. >> this morning, when we were preparing to come to the airport, there was an alarming silence on the streets. it was deserted. then we had news there had been problems in tripoli last night, but we did not see anything. >> now, western governments are making advance preparations to return their assistance from libya. they have dispatched two ferries for that purpose. there are many who are believed to work in libya. the government says it is watching the unfolding situation with concern. bbc news. >> and just a reminder, a state of emergency has been declared in the new zealand city of christchurch, which has been hit by an earthquake registering

6.3. we will have more on bbc news. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to

work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.