Christchurch Earthquake: Swarm of large aftershocks rock southern New Zealand

By Newsroom America Staff at 12 Jun 2011

A swarm of aftershocks in Christchurch, New Zealand have caused more building to collapse and people to be taken to hospital with significant liquefaction reported.

The USGS Preliminary Earthquake Report said the largest in the swarm of several earthquakes was magnitude 6.0 and a shallow depth of 9 km, with a shallow M5.5 quake also recorded in the series.

The 6.0 quake struck at 14:20 hrs about 14 km (8 miles) NNE (14 degrees) of Christchurch, New Zealand.

The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management activated the National Crisis Management Centre.

Initial Christchurch police reports include collapsed buildings, significant liquefaction, multiple road closures and the central police station has been evacuated. There are reports at least six people were taken to hospital in the earthquake.

Power was out to about 54,000 people in the city of about 200,000 people.