7.8 quake shakes New Zealand; 2 dead

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A powerful earthquake struck New Zealand's South Island early today, killing at least two people, triggering a small tsunami and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, but largely sparing the country the devastation it saw five years ago when a deadly earthquake struck the same region.

Strong aftershocks and landslides continued to shake the country, rattling the nerves of exhausted residents, many of whom spent a sleepless night huddled outside after fleeing for higher ground to avoid the tsunamis.

The magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck just after midnight in New Zealand in a mostly rural area dotted with small towns. Near the epicenter, it opened up snaking fissures in roads and triggered landslides.

It caused damage in Wellington, the capital, more than 120 miles to the north and was also strongly felt to the south in the city of Christchurch, which was devastated by the 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people.