Death toll in New Zealand quake can double

The earthquake which has torn Christchurch apart and left scores dead has made headlines around the world.

The world's media focused on the death toll and destruction caused by the 6.3 magnitude quake.

Many also pointed out that the quake was classed by experts as an aftershock to last September's 7.1 quake which caused widespread damage but no deaths, TVNZ reports.

Mayor Bob Parker has told media at least 100 people were understood to still be trapped in the CBD but that it was not known how many people were missing in total.

"We have to understand that we've got 10s of thousands of people waiting to hear news," Mr Parker said. "It's not going to be good news and we need to steel ourselves" he said.

He said the electricity companies were hoping to get some power restored overnight but said this was likely to be less than 50% of those currently without power.

Finance Minister Bill English has told the official death toll remained at 65 although expectations were that would rise. He said Police couldn't yet say how many people were missing, according to National Business Review.