Campaigners for the restoration of the Christchurch Cathedral are "thrilled" that rebuilding the earthquake-damaged church remains on the table.

After the Canterbury earthquakes only 30 per cent of New Zealanders are prepared at home for an emergency and a Civil Defence report says there is little evidence on how prepared businesses are.

John Key says privacy breaches like the two revealed in one week at the EQC are inevitable, and they are a result of human error, not systemic failure.

Some Christchurch residents with land in the red zone are calling in the Human Rights Commission as a deadline looms for a Government buy-out offer.

Large parts of the country's building stock will be off-limits for disabled people under a proposal to trim the cost of upgrading thousands of earthquake-prone buildings, advocacy groups have warned.

All emails and information technology systems have been frozen at the Earthquake Commission tonight in a drastic move to stop privacy breaches.

The man at the centre of the EQC privacy bungle says the email has been binned but he is seeking the legal green light to retrieve it and use it in a legal battle.

The Earthquake Commission has laid a complaint with police against the recipient of an accidental email including private customer information.

Police will decide soon on whether a formal investigation is warranted into the collapse of the Canterbury Television building, which killed 115 people.

Prime Minister John Key has come under fire for downplaying "a serious and widespread" data security problem across government departments.

Earthquake Commission boss Ian Simpson has offered to resign over the commission's massive privacy breach but has been told to stay on and fix up the mess.

Earthquake Commission boss Ian Simpson has offered to resign over the commission's massive privacy breach but has been told to stay on and fix up the mess.

The man who was sent details on 83,000 claimants in the Earthquake Commission privacy breach says the document contains detailed information and "everything is in there".

The massive EQC privacy breach of the details of more than 80,000 people is just another reason not to take the organisation seriously, Christchurch residents say.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has been questioned in Parliament over allegations of fraud and corruption involving Canterbury earthquake rebuild contracts.

Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee, along with CERA chief executive Roger Sutton and CCDU director Warwick Isaacs, visit areas of the Rebuild Zone to discuss progress with business and land owners. courtesy YouTube/cerachch

Around 50 members of the Japanese community in Christchurch have turned out to remember those who suffered in their homeland's quake and tsunami.

The largest concrete pour within the Christchurch central city cordon so far began at 3am on Thursday 28 February, and took 13 hours to complete. This timelapse shows the almost-750 cubic metres of concrete being laid on the site of a new four-storey office building on the corner of High and Lichfield streets. There were 32 trucks and two pumps were needed for the project as well as a team of 19 staff.

Weekend Herald consumer finance writer Diana Clement explains changes to home insurance policies and how they could affect you.