Another Quake Hits Christchurch

In Australasia, Earthquakes & Tsunamis, News Headlines

Wellington, Oct 24 NZPA – Christchurch has been struck by another sizeable shallow earthquake, described as a big jolt by residents who have lived through about 2000 aftershocks since last month’s magnitude 7.1 quake rocked Canterbury.

The magnitude 4.8 quake hit just after 3pm at a depth of 9km, 10km north-east of Christchurch, GNS Science reported.

Police received several calls about the earthquake, but there had been no reports of damage.

Nicky Doole was working at Pescatore Restaurant in central Christchurch, which is attached to The George hotel, when the aftershock hit.

She told NZPA she was getting used to the aftershocks, but still felt quite nervous by “jolty ones” such as today’s.

“For just a split second I thought ‘oh god’ … A few of the guests that were in the restaurant at the time were a bit shaken up by it,” she said.

One guest, from Denmark, had never felt an earthquake before and got quite a fright as she had no idea what was happening, Ms Doole added.

Marilyn Saez, who was working at a Blockbuster store in Riccarton, described the quake as “a big jolt” and “pretty intense”.

However, she had become quite blase about the aftershocks.

“(I’ve) completely gotten used to it. I mean, everyone just carries on doing what they were doing before, it’s not anything new anymore,” she told NZPA.

The latest quake did not seem to last more than a couple of seconds, she said.

“The worst ones are the ones that last the longest. If it’s just a big jolt, then it doesn’t really affect us that much.”

Christchurch police said there had been no reports of damage, while the Orion website reported its Brighton substation had a 10-minute power outage from 3.21pm.

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