'I don't think I'll ever forget the experience'

Struggling to stay upright as she raced to shelter under a doorframe when the earthquake hit is one memory which will always remain with an Alexandra woman visiting Christchurch this weekend. 

"I woke up as it hit and headed for the door but the room was swaying so much I couldn't stay standing and just stumbled around all over the place," said Courtney Staples (22).

She was with a group of friends who had travelled to Christchurch for the weekend to celebrate another friend's birthday. The group was staying in a cabin in a camping ground at Papanui and were "freaked out" by the force of the earthquake, she said.

"I was trying to open the door to stand under the frame but it was jammed shut because of all the movement. It was certainly the biggest earthquake I've ever felt and I don't think I'll ever forget the experience."

The power went out straight away and security alarms and car alarms activated by the shake went for ages, she said.

A series of aftershocks kept the group awake for much of the morning.

Today the group studied the damage to the town and Miss Staples said many homes were missing chimneys while others had whole walls and roofs reduced to rubble.

"It's strange walking around looking at the damage and thinking how lucky it was nobody was killed," she said.

"If it happened earlier in the evening or the next night, we could've been still getting home from our night out and I can't imagine being out while that was happening."

The group was shocked by the looting they witnessed in the centre of the city today.

"People were going into the nearest Night and Day store and walking out with boxes of beer. We didn't see any police around."