higher. ana carein walks us through this disaster as it happens. >> reporter: the moment the quake hit, in the middle of the lunch hour. a 6.3 magnitude quake sent it southeast of christchurch, a city of shock. it triggered widespread damage with buildings collapsed, at least one on fire. the four-story guinness building pancaked and tipped over. it's home to 200 office workers. firefighters rescue this woman from the roof. she was in remarkably good condition. rescuers also used a crane to pluck people from a balcony 17 stories up until the building's stairwells collapsed. also badly damaged, the city's famed cathedral.