The Chief Coroner has confirmed that the nine victims of the Christchurch earthquake whose bodies were unable to be identified died in the collapsed Canterbury Television building.
The 6.3-magnitude quake on 22 February killed 181 people. A three-day inquest is being held in Christchurch.
The CTV building in central Christchurch housed Canterbury Television and English language school King's Education.
On Monday the inquest heard evidence about the last contact made with the people not able to be identified using standard methods.
Detective Inspector Paul Kench said police had gathered evidence from workmates and classmates who were with the victims on 22 February and traced phone, bank and passport records.
The inquest was told of a phone call from people trapped within the CTV building after the quake and calls and text messages from loved-ones desperate for news.
Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean confirmed all nine victims died of multiple trauma caused by the earthquake.
Before the inquest began, Judge MacLean said the Disaster Victim Identification team had done a remarkable job in identifying more than 95% of the quake victims, but some families faced a worst-case scenario where no trace has been found of their loved-ones.
The judge said he would hear the best circumstantial evidence available to try to get to the point where the deaths can be registered and a death certificate issued.
On Tuesday, the inquest will look at the deaths of five people who were visually identified following the quake.
Monday's evidence
The inquest was told about three victims who worked at Canterbury Television - Shawn Lucas, Matthew Beaumont and Valeri Volnov - who were seen at the building by workmates during the morning and up to 10 minutes before the quake.
The inquest was told of the large number of calls made to the men's cell phones after the quake and desperate messages left by family and friends.
The men's bank accounts, passports and cell phones had remained unused after the quake, Detective Inspector Kench said.
The inquest was also told about Rhea Mae Sumalpong, a Filipino national who was studying English at King's Education.
About two hours after the quake, a friend of Ms Sumalpong received a phone call from a stranger who said Ms Sumalpong asked him to make the call, as her hands were trapped.
The caller said they were all fine, but were stuck and their limbs were getting numb. When the number was called hours later, it was no longer working.
Inquest helping families move on - police
Police family liaison officer Mark Harrison attended the hearing on Monday and said though none of the information was new for the families, the inquest is helping them to move on.
Inspector Harrison told Checkpoint police made it a priority to keep the families up-to-date with what was happening during the body recovery and identification process.
Unidentified victims
Matthew Lyle Beaumont, 31 of Christchurch; Jinyan Leng, 30, of China; Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch; Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, of the Philippines; Elsa Torres de Frood, 53, of Peru (NZ resident); Valeri Volnov, 41, of Russia (NZ resident); Xiujuan Xu, 47, of China; Didi Zhang, 23, of China and Xiaoli Zhou, 26, of China.
