5.5 Magnitude quake hit New Zealand South Island's Canterbury

14:00, 6 June 2011

WELLINGTON. June 6. KAZINFORM A 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit New Zealand central South Island's Canterbury region on Monday morning. There were no reports of casualties or damages reported so far; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

It occurred at 9.09 a.m. (21:09 GMT Sunday), and was centered near Rolleston, 20 km south of Christchurch, at a depth of 15 km, the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science (GNS Science) said.

The agency said it was sizeable, but the depth may be the reason why it was not felt as widely as previous quakes of similar magnitude.

The agency said the shake was the sixth largest since the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 4, 2010.

The Warehouse store in Rolleston has closed after stock fell off shelves during the aftershock. It would be closed for several hours for cleaning up, local media reported.

A smaller quake was recorded at 7.58 a.m.. It was magnitude 3.7, 10 km south-west of Christchurch, at a depth of 8 km.

Three others occurred on Sunday. They measured magnitude 3.0, 3. 9 and 3.7 respectively.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch on Feb. 22, killing 181 people.

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