Large earthquake jolts Canterbury awake
MYLES HUME AND AIMEE GULLIVER
Thousands have recorded "felt reports" after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake, 35km from Methven.
 
Canterbury has been rocked by the second-biggest earthquake since the deadly quake of February 2011.
Thousands felt the shake across the South Island, and trains have been suspended as a precaution. Dozens of aftershocks have followed but no reports of damage have yet been made.
The large quake was not connected to the Alpine Fault.
GeoNet said the "severe" 6.4 magnitude earthquake was 35 kilometres north of Methven, on the western edge of the Canterbury Plains, at 6.48am and was 10 kilometres deep.
The quake has been rated by GeoNet as "severe".
Did it wake you up? Did it cause any damage? Do you have pictures? Email newstips@stuff.co.nz
It was then followed by a swarm of aftershocks in the area ranging in magnitude from 3.2 to 4.2, all less than 11km deep.
Geonet duty seismologist John Ristau said the aftershocks would "probably go on for a while", and there was potential for large shakes to follow today.
"We've already had a few above magnitude four, and it wouldn't be surprising for an earthquake of this size to have an aftershock above magnitude five at some point."
Arthur's Pass was an area that had had earthquakes of a similar size in the last 100 years or so, Ristau said.
It "might be hard to notice any difference" with smaller aftershocks because earthquakes of smaller magnitudes in the area were not unusual.
Geonet had more than 2000 reports of people having felt the earthquake.
While no damage had been reported so far, the area close to the earthquake's epicentre may have experienced damage such as items falling off shelves, Ristau said.
The earthquake was not on the alpine fault but "quite a bit further east", Ristau said.
"With New Zealand in general, many of the earthquakes we have don't actually occur on the main faults, and that's often because New Zealand is riddled with faults."
A KiwiRail spokeswoman said all services in the area, including the TranzAlpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth and all freight services, had been suspended as a safety precaution while the tracks were being checked.
West Coast and Darfield police were on their way to Arthur's Pass as a precaution, a spokesman said.
Police had not received any reports of damage or injury across Canterbury or the West Coast.
Methven chief fire officer Selwyn Allred said the station had received no reports of damage or calls from the public.
The station is one of the closest to Lake Coleridge, near the quake's epicentre.
Fire Service southern communications shift manager Riwai Grace said it had not been called to any quake-related incidents, but the West Coast area manager was going to Greymouth as a precaution.
Christchurch Transport Operations Centre spokeswoman Tresca Forrester said it had received no reports of road damage in Christchurch city.
A St John spokesman said it had not received any quake-related reports nor had it had any increase in calls because of them.
Of nearly 2000 "felt reports" recorded on Geonet's website only a handful recorded the intensity as "strong". People felt it as far afield as Dunedin and New Plymouth.
Arthur's Pass Store and Cafe manager Debbie Stewart had not heard or seen reports of damage or injury, and the store itself was intact.
She initially thought of friends in family in Christchurch, believing the earthquakes may have been centred in the city again.
"It was a really good shake, enough to make your heart go.
"There's nothing off the shelves, the power is on, it's just like yesterday apart from a little wake-up call in the morning."
Carole Giles, of Hawarden, north Canterbury, said she felt "a sharp shaking for 3-5 seconds then several rolling sensations" for about five minutes. "Lots of creaking noises in the house and several things shaking."
Reader Danyal Taylor is staying in Castle Hill, about 15km from the epicentre. She reported no damage.
"We were in bed when it happened and it lasted for about 15-20 seconds," she said.
Aaron Tily of Ashburton said it was "a scary one".
"We haven't felt anything like that for quite some time," he said.
"I was day-dreaming at the time and felt something really sharp for a couple of seconds. Nothing broke but scared me and the cat quite a bit."
Tim Oram in Belfast said his bed shook and the house creaked.
One Christchurch-based Twitter user said the quake "felt like the house was at sea".
That #eqnz just felt like the house was at sea (in Christchurch) — The Queen of Cobden (@QueenofCobden) January 5, 2015 Another Twitter user reported feeling the quake in Franz Josef.
Felt that wobble in Franz Josef #eqnz — Mark English (@MarkEnglish) January 5, 2015 Cheryl Bernstein said it was an "extraordinary swaying earthquake".
West of Arthur's Pass, apparently. I've never felt one quite like that before. #eqnz — CherylBernstein (@CherylBernstein) January 5, 2015 Karen Foreman-Brown said the quake was large enough to have set off alarms in her neighbourhood.
On the Stuff.co.nz Facebook page, Jackie Cooper said she felt the earthquake in Golden Bay at the top of the island, and Dale Wedlock said he felt it in Dunedin.
Other people reported feeling the shake in Hawarden, Banks Peninsula and Papanui.
Don Gutsell said he had photos swinging at his house in Temuka.
That shake set off neighbourhood alarms #eqnz — Karen Foreman-Brown (@serenity22) January 5, 2015
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/64684438/Large-earthquake-jolts-Canterbury-awake
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