Aftershocks as tourists evacuated in quake-hit New Zealand

Christchurch : Rescuers in New Zealand on Tuesday began airlifting relieved tourists stranded by a 7.8 earthquake that devastated parts of the South Island coast and sparked up to 100,000 landslides.

Military helicopters started ferrying the first of 1,200 holidaymakers trapped in the seaside town of Kaikoura, which bore the brunt of a quake that claimed two lives when it struck early Monday.

Officials said the US and Japanese militaries would also join the relief effort.

Huge landslides cut Kaikoura's road and rail links, and police said water was running low, power was intermittent and hundreds of people were sheltering in evacuation centres. 

The town has a population of 2,000, which Prime Minister John Key said was bolstered by the tourists, mostly international backpackers attracted by the area's popular whale-watching cruises.

Key said getting them out safely was top priority and four air force helicopters had begun transporting them to nearby Christchurch, with numerous civilian choppers also helping the airlift.

The naval ship HMNZS Canterbury was steaming to the scene and will take hundreds more when it arrives, likely Wednesday.

Key estimated the quake repair bill would reach billions of dollars but said the first job was delivering much-needed supplies to the town.

"It's more water and food, it's more chemical toilets, it's fixing up the road access, getting those tourists out and then ultimately the big clean-up job," he told TVNZ.