Search and recovery team members from Britain sit on a basket crane and watch as a demolition arm moves rubble from the Pyne Gould Corporation building in Christchurch on February 28, 2011. Intense aftershocks rocked earthquake-scarred Christchurch Monday as a violent windstorm threatened to create treacherous conditions for rescuers scouring the rubble for bodies.Rob Griffith/AFP/Getty Images
New Zealand authorities said on Monday they were investigating reports that buildings damaged by a quake in Christchurch last year were allowed to remain in use, compromising their ability to withstand last week's tremor that killed at least 148 people.
Separately, Prime Minister John Key said the overall cost of the Feb. 22 and the Sept. 4 quakes combined would be about NZ$20-billion ($15-billion), with the second, more destructive, earthquake costing about three-quarters of the total.
Japanese media have pressed the mayor of Christchurch on the safety inspection and standards after last September's quake at the Canterbury Television Building, which housed a language school and was where nearly half the confirmed dead were killed.
"We want to give you all of the information that we have about those buildings," mayor Bob Parker told reporters on Monday during one of his twice-daily briefings.
"Had I received any information about the integrity of those buildings being in any way compromised as a result of the events of Sept. 4 last year? No."
The bodies of dozens of students from Japan, China, the Philippines and Taiwan are still in the ruins of the six-storey building, whose floors pancaked on top of each other in last Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude quake.
The questions came as the first funeral of a victim, a five month infant boy, took place. Only eight bodies have been released because of the need to accurately identify the dead.
Mr. Parker said building owners were responsible for ensuring adequate inspection and repair of buildings damaged by last year's 7.1 tremor.
The condition of the CTV building had been raised by a student from India, who spoke to Reuters while awaiting news of a friend trapped inside.
"How was this allowed to happen? When they inspected the building after the last earthquake, why didn't they realise?" asked the student named Jeewan.
Police have said the death toll may rise to more than 200, with about 50 people still unaccounted for.
GALE FORCE WIND, AFTERSHOCKS
Authorities warned that they expected gale force winds, which could whip up storms of contaminated dust, and topple already loose masonry, as rescue teams painstakingly pulled buildings apart in the slim chance they will find a survivor.
"The focus and energy of the teams on the ground is very much on rescue and looking at areas where there may be live victims," fire rescue head Jim Stuart Black told Reuters.
Aftershocks of up to magnitude 4.3 were still rattling the area and forced more people from their homes in hillside and seaside suburbs as fears grew that a large number of houses and car-sized boulders would tumble onto houses below.
No survivors have been rescued since mid-afternoon on Wednesday, as the search concentrated on a finance company office block, the city's landmark cathedral and the CTV building.
Prime Minister Key unveiled a temporary assistance package for employers and employees, which he estimated would apply to about 42,000 people and to cost about NZ$100-million to NZ$120-million.
"The government will do everything we can to support the recovery and the rebuilding of the city," Mr. Key said.
Life was slowly returning to normal in some parts of the city, with buses back on the streets and some coffee shops, corner stores and restaurants reopening.