Two earthquakes of magnitude 5.8 rocked the largest city in New Zealand in less than two hours.
In February the city had a 6.3 earthquake caused 181 deaths.
The authorities have not reported casualties and property damage and maintain the alert for the possibility of more aftershocks.
The U.S. Geological Survey located the hypocenter of the first earthquake to 4 km deep, 26 kilometers northeast of Christchurch and Wellington 287 southwest of the capital. airports and shopping centers were evacuated and closed this earthquake was followed by two replicas : one of magnitude 5.3 and another 4.2 degrees . An hour and twenty minutes after the first shock was recorded another 5.8 degrees with hypocenter 4 km deep, 16 kilometers northeast of Christchurch and 293 southwest of Wellington. The police told New Zealand television that the airport of the city and major shopping centers were evacuated and closed after the first jolt, as well as government buildings. He also reported that one person was injured in one of these malls and was taken to hospital, while the Emergency Service said that some twenty people had been served by nerves or anxiety attacks. The Civil Protection Department said residents in a radio message from the radio, take precautions against the possibility of more aftershocks occur within hours and asked not to do other urgent phone calls since the networks were jammed. In several districts of the city there have been failures in the electricity supply which affect some 50,000 residents, according to Radio New Zealand. The Warning Center Pacific Tsunami has not issued any notice of tidal wave as a result of earthquakes.
Christchurch in February was shaken by an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 that caused 181 people Zealand State television reported that the shakes, especially the second, caused damage and cracks in buildings of Christchurch, the largest city in the country .
Speaking to local television in Wellington, Prime Minister of New Zealand , John Key , said that to discuss the situation has moved to Gerry browneye Christchurh Minister in charge of reconstruction projects carried out in the city following the damage caused by the earthquake of February. For his part, Mayor Bob Parker said as he returned to the city from the town of Taupo, which for the first information he had received the damage was minor and that on all affected infrastructure and buildings in the area east of Christchurch. On 22 February, Christchurch was shaken by an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 that caused 181 people and damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings. New Zealand is based on the fault between the Pacific tectonic plates and Oceania records about 14,000 earthquakes each year, of which 100 and 150 are strong enough to be perceived.