Christchurch earthquake: 'No signs of life' in city, as New Zealand warned to brace toll of over 300

In addition to the 98 people confirmed to have died in the New Zealand tragedy, an estimated 223 people are still missing. Police said there are now grave fears for all those unaccounted for.

Despite hours of painstaking work, the only bodies rescuers succeeded in extricating from the debris were those of the dead. There were no further calls for help during the day, no tapping and no text messages from within the rubble. Police sniffer dogs and listening devices also ailed to detect any movement or signs of life inside the scores of fallen buildings in the city centre.

Rescuers have now turned their mind to the grim task of recovering bodies. A total of 120 people were feared to be dead beneath what police described as the "100 per cent unsurvivable wreckage" of the Canterbury TV building. The number of missing at Christchurch Cathedral stands at 22; none are expected to have survived.

Several blocks away, the painstaking search for the living continued at the Pyne Gould building, where it was hoped 14 people trapped in the debris might still be alive. But by the end of the day, only two dead bodies had been brought out and the authorities reported there were "no signs of life".

Refusing to give up hope for the hundreds missing, Supt Dave Cliff, the Canterbury district commander, insisted that rescuers were still searching for survivors. "This hasn't been a day where we have had the breakthrough stories that we wanted to bring to the community but we continue to look with positivity," he said. "We are looking for the living.

But the message coming from John Key, the prime minister, was far bleaker."We are very fearful tonight that the death toll could be much greater than any of us have ever feared," he said.

At least three Britons died in the earthquake. One has been identified as Susan Selway, a mother of two who lived in Christchurch and was married to a New Zealander. Mrs Selway, 50, worked as a clinical psychologist in the CTV building, and has not been seen since the earthquake.

The British High Commission warned that it was likely that more fatalities from the United Kingdom would come to light.

Another British man was in a serious condition in hospital with a fractured skull, but is expected to survive.

The victims at the CTV building included scores of foreign students who were in class when the earthquake struck. The Chinese embassy estimated that 20 of its citizens were in the building at the time of the quake and Japan said it feared 10 of its nationals had died.

"The longer I don't know what happened, the longer my agony becomes," said Rolando Cabunilas, 34, a steelworker from the Philippines whose wife, Ivy Jane, 33, was on her second day of class at the school when the quake struck. She hasn't been heard from since.

"I can't describe it: it's pain, anger, all emotions," he said.