Shoppers run for cover in Christchurch quake terror

TERRIFIED shoppers ran into the streets and buildings were evacuated as a series of strong earthquakes struck Christchurch in New Zealand today.

The quake rattled buildings but there was no tsunami alert issued and the city appeared to have been spared major damage, local police said.

One person was injured at a city mall and four people had to be rescued after being trapped by a rock fall.

The city’s airport was evacuated after the first quake and all city malls shut down as a precaution.

The first 5.8-magnitude quake struck in the afternoon local time, 16 miles north of Christchurch and 2.5 miles deep, the US Geological Survey said. Minutes later, a 5.3-magnitude aftershock hit and about an hour after that, the city was shaken by another 5.8-magnitude temblor.

Both aftershocks were less than three miles deep.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or widespread damage in the city, which is still recovering from the devastating February earthquake that killed 182 people.

Warwick Isaacs, demolitions manager for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, said most buildings had been evacuated “as an emergency measure”.

The area has recorded more than 7000 earthquakes since a magnitude-7 quake on September 4 last year. That quake did not cause any deaths.

Rock falls had occurred in one area and there was liquefaction – when an earthquake forces underground water up through loose soil – in several places, Mr Isaacs told New Zealand’s National Radio.

Mr Isaacs said his immediate concern was for demolition workers involved in tearing down buildings wrecked in previous quakes.

“It ... started slow then really got going. It was a big swaying one but not as jolting or as violent as in February,” resident Rita Langley said.

The shaking was severe in the nearby port town of Lyttelton, the epicentre of the February 22 quake.

“We stayed inside until the shaking stopped. Then most people went out into the street,” resident Andrew Turner said.

About 15,000 homes were without power after electricity lines were felled in the city’s eastern suburbs. Sewage services were also cut. Hundreds of miles of sewer and fresh water lines have been repaired in the city since the February quake.

Central City Business Association manager Paul Lonsdale said the quakes just before Christmas came at the worst possible time for retailers.

There was no visible damage in the central business district, where 28 stores have reopened in containers after their buildings were wrecked by the February quake, he said.