CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – Workers continued to sift through the rubble for survivors of Tuesday’s 6.3-magnitude earthquake here, but officials said hopes had dimmed that those buried would be found alive.

Despite that gloomy assessment, volunteers pulled two people from the ruins of one building Wednesday after hearing the cries of a woman in the wreckage. The official death toll remained at 75, with scores missing.

Additional Photos

Fifteen-year-old Kent Manning, left, and his sister Lizzy, 18, react Wednesday with their father, who asked not to identified, after being told there was no hope that Kent and Lizzy’s mother would be found alive in a building that collapsed during a 6.3-magnitude earthquake Tuesday. Authorities said the death toll would be “significant.’ The Associated Press

As Christchurch settled in for another uneasy night, family members of the missing waited for word under a steady drizzle and cold temperatures. Police imposed a 6:30 p.m. curfew in the city center as rescue teams continued their search, and violators faced arrest.

On Wednesday, international flights returned to Christchurch, but more people scrambled to get out of the city than in, with dozens camped out at the airport waiting for flights. Many tourists traveled without luggage or even passports, after they fled hotel rooms without any belongings.

At Canterbury Television, where 200 people worked, searchers at 1 a.m. Thursday brought in floodlights and a digger to sift through the still-smoking ruins. On Wednesday, officials had declared that no one would be found alive there but later returned to search some more.

They said more than 100 people may have been lost in the CTV building and that the devastation was not survivable, so they were concentrating on recovery of bodies rather than rescue.

Earlier Wednesday, officials said some trapped victims were text messaging for help.

Others could be heard tapping out signals as aftershocks continued to hit the devastated city, the island nation’s second largest, causing thousands of skittish residents to crowd into temporary shelters, schools and community halls.

Many tourists who had abandoned their hotels after the temblor struck at midday Tuesday huddled in hastily pitched tents under a drizzling rain.

Prime Minister John Key said at a news conference that only 55 of the 75 confirmed dead had been identified. He declared a national emergency, giving the government wider powers to respond to the crisis.

Among nearly a dozen buildings where survivors were believed still trapped, two in particular suffered major damage and were the focus of rescue efforts.

Authorities said 22 people had been rescued from the Pyne Gould Guinness Building and another 22 were believed still to be under the rubble. Eight were pulled from the Canterbury television building, with a large number still unaccounted for.

Rescuers reported hearing screams for help from trapped victims, some of whom spoke with relatives by cell phone.

Authorities said the death toll was evolving.

“We know it will be significant,” police Supt. Russell Gibson said, “and we know there are a lot of people going through the nightmare ordeal of waiting for news of their loved ones.”

Much of the city remained without water, although power and telephone service had been restored to many areas.

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