Christchurch quake: No more survivors

The news we were dreading has arrived, there will be no more survivors from the violent Christchurch quake that has claimed 220 lives.

Nine days after the 6.3-magnitude quake struck, police have identified 161 bodies and revised down the final number of expected dead from 240 to 220.

About 100 victims were foreign nationals, it has been revealed, mostly students enrolled in a language school based in the collapsed Canterbury Television building.

Civil Defence head John Hamilton delivered the tough news that the operation is no longer a rescue and is now in recovery mode.

"We now face the reality that there is no chance that anyone could have survived this long, and efforts have to shift to the recovery of loved ones and their return to their families," Hamilton said.

Prime Minister John Key said it was time for New Zealanders to "confront the permanency of our loss".

"To the families from New Zealand and overseas ... can I offer my heartfelt sympathies at your loss," he said, before announcing plans for a national inquiry into the tragedy.

"We were perhaps holding out hope against all hope," Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said.

A national memorial service will be held in Christchurch in the coming weeks.