Christchurch residents received a shock on Monday after an earthquake struck shortly before midday.
The quake hit at 11:49am just 5km east of Christchurch, at a depth of just 9km. GeoNet says the magnitude was recorded as a 3.4 and caused "light shaking" - but locals say it felt much stronger.
Five people have reported the strength as 'extreme', 13 as 'strong', and 232 as 'moderate'. So far over 3750 people have reported the quake.
"Big jolt on the hill, felt much bigger frightened the life out of me!" one person tweeted in response.
"Bloody hell, that was a bang and a half!" another said.
"That was NOT light," a third tweeted. "If that's what we're calling light shaking now I'm legit scared."
