A magnitude 5.7 natural disaster has struck near Christchurch this afternoon.
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Civil Defence said there was no tsunami threat to New Zealand.
Aftershocks of up to 3.5 continue to hit the city.
The quake hit just eight days short of the February 22, 2011 natural disaster in the same region, which resulted in almost 200 deaths and caused billions of dollars of damage. The fire service said there had been reports of liquefaction and a burst water mains in Pines Beach, near Kiapoi, and there was flooding and power lines were down in New Brighton. The number is now down to 190.
GeoNet has described the quake as “severe”, at a depth of 31km and located 15km east of the city.
Shelves have fallen in homes, shops and libraries and Riccarton Mall and Northlands Mall have both been evacuated.
She said quakes had been progressively moving eastwards and this one was centred in a similar spot to a quake in December 2011.
“Absolutely they’re linked to the earthquakes five years ago”.
St John activated its Emergency Operations Centre and said that in the immediate post-quake time period there was a sharp increase in calls mostly related to people with minor injuries from falls as they were running.
The Lyttelton Road Tunnel is open but Scarborough Road has been closed by police after significant rockfall at the nearby Whitewash Head in Sumner.
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Denmark’s Emily Pedersen responded to the quake by making an eagle on the par-5 second hole.
