When Christchurch residents said yesterday’s quake felt “just as bad” as February’s deadly earthquake, they were right. 

GeoNet has today upgraded yesterday’s 6.0 jolt to 6.3 on the Richter Scale – the exact same magnitude as the February 22 earthquake earlier this year which killed 181 people.

And the depth of the quake has also changed, now to just 6kms deep.

Meanwhile yesterday’s powerful quakes have lead to one fatality.  Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) says an elderly rest home resident has died after yesterday’s Christchurch earthquakes.

NZHerald.co.nz reports that the death was understood to be as a result of the quakes.

CDHB Spokeswoman Amy Milne said the authority was only made aware of the death this morning and no further details were available.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz with NZHerald.co.nz