CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 1 (UPI) -- Aftershocks rocked a devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday where police say the death toll from a powerful Feb. 22 earthquake could rise to 240.
Police said they recovered three bodies overnight, raising the toll from last week's 6.3-magnitude earthquake to 154 confirmed dead, with another 50 people missing, Radio New Zealand reported.
Police Superintendent Dave Cliff said that the number of missing was changing and it was possible 240 people may have died.
At least nine aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 3.1 to 4.6, were felt in the Christchurch area, officials reported.
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New Zealand observed two minutes of silence to mark the time a week ago when the earthquake ruined much of Christchurch and left more than 150 dead.
The killer quake, the second deadliest in the country's history, struck the nation's second largest city at 12:51 p.m. last Tuesday during lunch hour, knocking down or destroying dozens of buildings and structures, tearing up roads, knocking out essential services, and burying hundreds of people, among whom dozens still were missing, officials said.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who declared a national state of emergency, led a memorial outside Christchurch's damaged cathedral where about 20 people were believed to have been trapped.
Aftershocks stymied search and rescue efforts because of concerns about the collapse of unstable buildings.
"We are also very aware of a growing frustration by people who have cars within the (central business district) they want to retrieve, and businesses that they want to check on," police said in a statement. "We understand these frustrations but the (district) is still fraught with danger and any access has to be controlled. At this stage our focus has to remain on the rescue operation."
