Image via Twitter user gavb.

Several deaths have been reported Tuesday afternoon in Christchurch, New Zealand after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake caused several buildings, including a cathedral and a hostel to crumble.

One New Zeland television station reported that a building had fallen on two buses, from which bodies were being dragged out. There have also been reports of hundreds being trapped in downed buildings.

Though almost ten times weaker than an earthquake last September in the same area that didn't kill anyone, this earthquake was centered closer to the heart of the city and closer to the surface of the Earth. As a result, people in Christchurch called Tuesday's tremor much more "awful."

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is expected to visit Christchurch later Tuesday, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency.

A seismographer said the earthquake's epicenter was in the "worst possible location" for the city.

• See a map of the epicenter and aftershock locations here.
• See a map of damage reported here.
• See photos of the damage here.
• See a missing person finder here.
• See a liveblog of the events here.