A magnitude 6.3 earthquake occured 10km south-east of the city of Christchurch at 12.51pm on 22 February.

The latest information can be found on the Ministry of Civil Defence website and the Environment Canterbury website.

If you are the owner of property in New Zealand, living overseas and you would like to rent your property you may be interested in the recent amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act.

A law change (Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010) means any landlord who leaves New Zealand for more than three weeks must appoint a New Zealand agent to manage their property.

Christchurch and the wider Canterbury area (which surrounds the city) are recovering from the major earthquake of 4 September. New Zealand is well prepared for such instances and has strong infrastructure so essential services were quickly restored to most of the affected area.

A part of central Christchurch is cordoned off and this cordon is reviewed daily. The remainder of Christchurch is accessible.

Apart from the Canterbury area no other areas of New Zealand have been affected by the earthquake.

High water has reached Warsaw and exceeded the Wisla river emergency levels. Reports suggest water levels may remain very high until Sunday evening possibly causing leaking or breaking of the river banks.

Information on the currrent flooding situation is provided by the Warsaw Crisis Management Centre helplines: 0800 707 112 or 22 196 56. Information on the traffic situation, detours and closures is provided through the Warsaw Police Department telephone line: 22 603 80 02