Survivors on marrying days after N.Z. quake

It was two weeks ago today that a 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocked Christchurch, New Zealand, killing at least 166 people and injuring countless more.

CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reported on "The Early Show" that the powerful earthquake was centered directly underneath the small city on the south island, causing irreparable damage to more than 10,000 homes, city landmarks and office buildings.

A large financial and insurance office building was completely destroyed within minutes, killing and trapping workers inside.

Death toll rises in New Zealand earthquake
Earthquake in New Zealand collapses buildings

One of those people was 23-year-old Emma Howard. Howard was trapped in a dark, cramped area where she spent six-and-a-half hours, scared for her life. A co-worker trapped nearby was able to get a text message to Howard's fiancee, Chris.

He immediately joined the rescue efforts -- even carrying others to safety -- until he finally laid eyes on his bride-to-be.

Pictures: New Zealand: An earthquake hot zone

Greenslade said, "I heard the cheers on the roof and looked up and just ran back to where she could see me. Amazing."

Howard walked away with no injuries. And just three days later -- as planned -- she and Chris walked down the aisle. Amid all of the destruction, the two tied the knot in Christchurch, their hometown.

Emma Howard -- now Emma Greenslade -- and Chris Greenslade stopped by "The Early Show" in New York on their way home to Christchurch from their honeymoon.

Co-anchor Chris Wragge asked the couple, "I know this is very emotional for both of you, but thank you so much for being here. Are you OK?

"Yeah, I'm all right," Emma said.

"Tough to see, isn't it?" Wragge said.

"It is. It's really hard," Emma said. "Because just -- we've been away from it for quite a while now and it's hard to see."

Wragge asked the couple if the earthquake has sunk in.

"I'm feeling very overwhelmed right now," Emma said. "I'm starting to think about it a bit more. But I'm still in shock. It's very hard to believe this is reality."

Emma, who was ready to leave her office building for lunch when the earthquake hit, said she thought she was going to be crushed inside her compartment of concrete.

"I had a block of concrete on top of me and I couldn't -- it was amazing that we were OK," she said. "I had no broken bones. And I thought, 'This is too good to be true. I'm not walking out of here.' It was terrifying. I went through so much different mood swings. I would scream, 'I don't want to die,' and then I would cry. And it was good (that) I had Dwayne (one of my co-workers)."

She said, "He's one of my very good friends and could I talk to Dwayne and the others and it was so much help having them."

While Emma was trapped in concrete, Chris said he thought he would be able to pick her up from work and comfort her and the ordeal would be over.

"I had no idea that the building was going to be like it was," Chris said. "... I walked around the building and it was horrifying. My initial thought was that there was anyone will be alive, because it was so mangled."

Chris didn't know if Emma was alive or dead for three hours.

"And then I got the text and it was a pretty incredible feeling to have that," he said. "So gave a little bit of hope. But to know that she was actually OK was pretty incredible."

Emma said while she was trapped in her office, she was thinking about her wedding.

"Well, when I was in there, I was thinking, I'm meant to be getting married in three days and when I got out, I just assumed we wouldn't be. You know, we weren't getting married. But I had both my parents there and Chris and everyone was saying, 'No, we're still getting -- you're getting married on Friday. We're still going ahead. So I was like, 'OK, sure, OK.'"

Chris said, "No question about getting married. You've got to take what happiness you can get, and this shows you need to do that. So we were very lucky and we were going ahead with the wedding."

Emma added everyone had a great time at the wedding.

"They could just forget about all the craziness for a few hours and let loose," she said. "And they did and they had a really good time. We had heaps of people dancing until all hours. I know Dad kicked them out in the end."