WELLINGTON: A 5.7 magnitude quake struck near New Zealand’s city of Christchurch Sunday, according to the country’s earthquake monitoring service.
The quake hit just eight days short of the February 22, 2011 earthquake in the same region, which resulted in nearly 200 deaths and caused billions of dollars of damage.
The epicentre was 15 kilometres east of the city at a depth of 15 km.
A police spokesman told media that there were no reports of damage or major injuries although the tremor did cause “some major rocks to be dislodged into the sea” near Sumner.
Several buildings were evacuated in Christchurch as a precautionary measures. Civil Defence said there was no tsunami threat to New Zealand.
