New Zealand begins evacuating tourists from quake-hit town

By Lincoln Feast WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand emergency services and defense personnel began evacuating hundreds of tourists and residents from the South Island town of Kaikoura on Tuesday, a day after a powerful earthquake hit the region, killing two people. The 7.8-magnitude tremor, which struck just after midnight on Sunday, destroyed historic farm homesteads, sent glass and masonry toppling from high rises in the capital Wellington and cut road and rail links throughout the northeast of the South Island. Kaikoura, a popular base for whale-watching about 150 km (90 miles) northeast of Christchurch and near the epicenter, was completely cut off by massive landslips.