Christchurch has been rocked by a magnitude 5.3 aftershock.

The 5.49pm quake was centred 10km northeast of Diamond Harbour, at a depth of 11km and was felt strongly in Christchurch, GNS reported.It was also felt in Timaru.

An Orion spokeswoman said power was lost to about 20,000 customers when the quake hit.The spokeswoman said the number of customers affected – mainly in the southern part of the city – made up about 10 per cent of the company’s load.Electricity had already been restored in some areas, with the rest of the network expected to be up and running by 8pm, she said.

Rocks had reportedly fallen in suburban Sumner, near the RSA building, and an elderly couple was thought to be trapped in their suburban Woolston home.

Civil Defence advised people to check on their neighbours and to be wary of falling debris and dark areas on the road.
Some traffic lights were also out, it said.

NZHerald