A special prayer service will be held on Thursday in Sydney after another earthquake which hit  Christchurch, causing at least 65 deaths and demolishing buildings, including the Anglican Cathedral.

A lunchtime service will be held at 1pm and the Premier will attend an official service at 3pm with other dignitaries.

Communications are still difficult, and efforts are being made to contact those known to the Sydney Anglican community, living or ministering in the Canterbury district.

Latimer Square, near St John's Anglican Church, has been turned into a triage centre.

Wally Behan, the former rector of the church at  Latimer Square, has been on the phone contacting members of his family, friends and ministry collegeaues to make sure they are safe.

Mr Behan is currently serving as locum at Hoxton Park Anglican.

He says his own family members are safe, but shaken.

Mr Behan's son, Jay, is the vicar of the St Stephen’s, Shirley.

He and his family are safe, but the vicarage has been badly damaged by a wall collapse and the church has also been damaged.

The family are staying with friends.

Another son and his wife are safe, but they have lost their house.

In the last quake, St Stephen’s church survived the quake but this quake was stronger.

Former Sydney minister Geoff Robson also works at the church and he and his family are safe.

Wally Behan, who's due to return to pastor a church near Christchurch later in the year, told the ABC's Richard Glover he feels helpless watching the devastation on TV.

In the city centre, the Spire has fallen from Christchurch cathedral into the main square and there are people trapped throughout the city.

 St John's Latimer Square, which was badly damaged and rendered unusable for two years by the last quake, has been further damaged.

Archbishop Peter Jensen is urging Sydney Anglicans to pray for the people of the city and the region, as emergency services respond to the disaster.

A statement from  Archbishops David Moxon, Brown Turei and Winston Halapua of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa and Polynesia appealed for prayer.

“We, along with so many other people in this country, immediately turned to prayer for all those who are so seriously affected. We have also contacted our wider Anglican Communion around the world and asked them to pray with us.
We reach out in this prayer to the people of the city of Christchurch and the wider Canterbury region, asking the God of all the earth to give everyone the strength and endurance that they need to survive and to recover.”

Anglican Aid on wednesday morning launched an appeal for victims of the quake.

Urgent Prayer request

James de Costobadie at St Saviour's Sydenham, a church plant from St John's Latimer Square, has emailed friends to ask for urgent prayer for congregation member Julie Wong, who is reportedly trapped under rubble.