Moderate 5.5-magnitude earthquake shakes Christchurch

Moderate 5.5-magnitude earthquake shakes Christchurch

2011-10-10 05:29:32 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHRISTCHURCH (BNO NEWS) -- A moderate earthquake struck near the New Zealand city of Christchurch on Sunday evening, seismologists said. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the region since June.

The 5.5-magnitude earthquake at 8.34 p.m. local time (0734 GMT) was centered about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) northeast of Diamond Harbour, a small settlement on Banks Peninsula in Canterbury, or 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) east of Christchurch. It struck about 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GeoNet), the country's seismological agency.

The moderate earthquake was widely felt along the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand, especially in Christchurch and the wider Canterbury region. But there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the area, which has been devastated by a series of powerful earthquakes in the past year.

Sunday's earthquake was the strongest earthquake to hit the area since June 13 when a strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Christchurch, injuring 46 people. It followed a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on February 22 near Christchurch, killing 181 people and injuring more than 1,500 others.

The earthquake in February was the country's deadliest disaster since a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Hawke's Bay region on February 3, 1931, killing at least 256 people and injuring thousands more.

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