Six of seven Malaysians reported missing in Christchurch, New Zealand in Tuesday's earthquake have been found alive and safe, Deputy Foreign Minister Richard Riot said today.

He said, based on the latest update emailed by his ministry and received at 1.10pm, the six Malaysians were identified as Anthony Das, Paulin Joseph, Tan Chin Pih, Celine Wong, Lin Siao Jin and Chon Siow Lim.

"However, Sandra Hii from Sibu, Sarawak, an employee at Christchurch's King's Education College, with permanent residence status, is still unaccounted for.

"Her next-of-kin have been informed," he told reporters after attending the Samarahan division's welfare services office briefing on monthly aid in Serian.

He said the ministry's crisis management committee in Putrajaya had activated its operations room within a few hours of the earthquake. It is manned by 30 officers, at any one time.

A similar operations room has also been set up at the Malaysian mission in Christchurch.

As of today, the death toll from the earthquake rose to 123. The number of those reported missing stands at about 200, many of whom are believed to be foreigners.

Riot advised Malaysians who intended to study, work or travel abroad as tourists to register themselves at the Malaysian embassy or consulate in the respective countries to enable the ministry to trace them, in the event of untoward incidents.

He said the Malaysian embassy in Christchurch had so far, contacted 70 of 246 Malaysians who had registered as staying there, adding that Malaysia would not despatch rescue teams to the disaster zone as the New Zealand government had said that teams from several countries were already on the ground.

131 M’sians evacuated from Libya

On the Libya crisis, he said, all 131 Malaysians who were trapped in Libya were successfully flown out of Tripoli yesterday, via Tunisia Air, to Rome, from where they would be flown back home by the Royal Malaysian Air Force's Charlie 130 aircraft.

He said all the expenses were borne by Ranhill Berhad, the Malaysian company operating in Libya, mainly in oil and gas, to enable stranded Malaysians as well as other nationalities from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, United Kingdom and Tunisia, a safe passage out of Libya.

On monetary assistance provided by the community welfare department, he said the Samarahan division received a monthly allocation of RM1.3 million, including RM636,000 distributed to 2,577 needy recipients in the Serian district.

- Bernama