Christchurch Shudders With A 5.5 And A 6.0

Here we go again! It looks like the 5.5 and the 6.0 bracketed Sumner. And so close to Andrew's house!:

The magnitude 5.5 quake struck at 1pm, 10 kilometres east of Christchurch at Taylor's Mistake beach, at a depth of 11 kilometres, and sent people scrambling for cover. It was followed at 2.20pm by a more powerful magnitude 6 quake, centred 10 kilometres southeast of the city and 9km underground.

At least ten people were taken to Christchurch Hospital with injuries due to falling building material after the 1pm quake. Other residents from the devastated city cried in the streets and hugged their children.

Police said there were no reports of injuries following the second aftershock today.

The quakes are the latest in a series of dozens of aftershocks to hit Canterbury following the devastating February 22 earthquake, where 182 people died, and a damaging magnitude 7.1 earthquake last September. The February 22 quake measured magnitude 6.3 and left 100,000 homes damaged - 10,000 beyond repair. Christchurch's CBD was left in ruins, with 900 buildings - many in what has become known as the 'red zone' - expected to be demolished.

...The earthquakes were another blow to Christchurch residents, who found them frightening and upsetting.

"Quite frankly I think they're all over this and they want the sense of normality to return ... my heart really goes out to them."

...Civil Defence has again set up a headquarters at the Christchurch Art Gallery where shaking was so violent those inside feared the large glass windows would burst.

...More masonry fell from the landmark ChristChurch Catheral and there were reports of other buildings - in Lichfield St, in Latimer Square and at the corner of Stanmore Road and Worcester Street - falling down.

A house has fallen from the top of Clifton Hill into Peacock's Valley below as scores of people attempt to leave the seaside suburb of Sumner. Many residents have turned their power and water mains off before leaving the suburb which bore the brunt of today's earthquakes.

A crack through Scarborough Hill has seen the main road to Taylors Mistake cut off as emergency services fear more rockfall could destabilise other clifftop homes. One resident said the area was decimated and that damage to their homes was "far worse" than February's 6.3 magnitude quake.

Two men who had been salvaging windows from the St Johns Church in the central city were reported to have received cuts and bruises and were taken to hospital.

St John staff member Alistair Drye said the two men were okay, but shaken.

"The walls fell down around them," he said.

The church had been severely damaged in February's earthquake and was set to be demolished.

Walls around the outside of the church had "fallen and crumbled" during today's aftershocks, while the roof had collapsed onto the organ and the front of the church, he said.

The tower of Lyttelton's historic Timeball Station fell in today's second quake.

Using binoculars, Lyttelton resident Peter Evans said he could see the remains of the Timeball Station from his back garden.

"You can see the tower has come down. The back roof looks like its collapsed into the building. The top of the tower has fallen off and is lying on the ground. The building has collapsed really."

...In the Liggins St area of Horseshoe Lake, the ground was bubbling with sand spurting out of the ground, as happened in the first two major quakes, a resident said.

...Significant rockfalls have been seen in Sumner and parts of Banks Peninsula and land and cellphone lines were down in many of the beachside suburbs and in the Heathcote Valley.

Liquefaction had been reported across the eastern suburbs and as far away as Kaiapoi, which was hard hit in the September quake.

Sirens were sounding throughout the inner city and helicopters were flying over the red zone.

...Press reporter Marc Greenhill was in Brooker Ave, Burwood, when the 6.0 struck.

He was talking to one of the residents who was trying to clean liquefaction out of his lounge from the 1pm quake when the second one struck.

"The road split down the middle and seven or eight mini geysers spurted liquefaction and water onto the road."

Within a minute the whole street was flooded and several cars were trapped.

Water levels rose above the gutter and across the pavement and up into driveways.

A woman came screaming out of her home as liquefaction silt and water poured out into gardens.

A witness near the Lyttelton Tunnel said the quake dislodged rocks from the Port Hills above, some which looked to be as big as car tyres.