Stars 'sending prayers' to Christchurch

Stars including Slash, Justin Bieber, Denise Richards and Benji Madden have reached out to the residents of Christchurch in New Zealand, after a devastating earthquake struck yesterday.

At least 75 people have died in the powerful tremor (including an Australian) which destroyed several buildings in the city and prompted officials to declare a state of emergency in the area.

There are hundreds of people missing.

As news of the disaster broke around the world, stars took to their Twitter pages to express their shock at the earthquake.

In a post, Madden writes, "Sending prayers out to everyone in ChristChurch. Beautiful place and great people. Thoughts & prayers with you guys in NZ. God bless!"

Australians Dannii Minogue and Miranda Kerr were also stunned to hear about the disaster and took to their twitter pages to share their thoughts.

Biebs declares, "My prayers go out tonight to the people of New Zealand. God bless" and Slash adds, "Our thoughts & prayers go out to everybody in Christchurch."

Denise Richards posted a message on Twitter, "Praying for all the people in Christchurch, NZ during this difficult time... sending lots of love and prayers"