Today’s quakes. Over 12,000 quakes have hit Christchurch in the last 2 years.

Another strong earthquake hit Christchurch at 1.35pm today.

The mag 4.2 quake, only 12km deep, was centred 20km east of the city. Geonet described it as “strong” and said it was followed by a smaller 3.8 quake at 2:01pm.

Public Id: 2012p713691itNZST: Friday, September 21 2012 at 1:35:03 pm
Intensity: strong
Depth: 12 km
Magnitude: 4.3
Location: 15 km east of Christchurch

This is the first significant shake for a while and reminder that Christchurch isn’t out of the woods yet. It is over 2 years since the first major quake shook the city and over  12,000 earthquakes have shaken the region since then, putting a dampner on reconstruction efforts .

Shocked residents were quick to post their experiences on the TradeMe forum, saying

“Wow, it doesn’t take much for those feelings to come rushing back does it? The first one I’ve felt in ages, and now it feels like they never stopped! Instantly checked that the pantry kiddy lock was done up and boiled the jug – paranoid or what???”

“Holy crap, that scared the $#$@ out of me!”

“At least a four, off North Beach way. Make my house really shake. Can we expect another one in an hour????”

“havent felt any since that one up north off the coast but mother nature is just reminding us not to let our guard down.Its a good time to check the water in the earthquake bins as we call them.”

and on Twitter

“first shake in a while, packed a decent punch over here by the airport #eqnz”

“#eqnz Quite a jolt & long shake in CBD Chc.”

“4 storeys up when you feel the first decent shake in months = unpleasant! #eqnz”