Experts predict the quakes will continue to hit New Zealand's second city for the next four years as residents rapidly lose the will to stay with the cost of making good after each disaster spiralling upwards.
© GNSDevastation: A seismograph shows the effect of the Christchurch earthquake
One in 10 residents is preparing to leave the region as it becomes increasingly difficult to rebuild property and then insure it, say worried economists.
© Geoff Sloan
Under water: The Burwood and New Brighton areas of Christchurch pictured shortly after the earthquake
Under water: The Burwood and New Brighton areas of Christchurch pictured shortly after the earthquake
It was not immediately known if anyone had died - but one person was injured at a city mall, four people were rescued after being trapped by a rock fall and 60 were treated for minor injuries.
There were no immediate reports of widespread damage and a tsunami alert was not issued.
Today's quake comes just 10 months after February's magnitude-6.3 - in almost the same spot - killed 182 people and crippled large areas. In September 2010 the area was hit by a magnitude-7.1.
The city is still struggling to reconstruct the hundreds of buildings damaged in both of the disasters, with every major aftershock creating months of additional delays because of its impact on global re-insurers who stand behind New Zealand's insurance firms.
They have suffered huge losses because of the quakes, which has also wiped out the country's $6 billion Earthquake Commission insurance fund.
© Reuters
Aftermath: Darryl Freeman shovels liquefaction from the front of his Christchurch home which was struck by the earthquake
Aftermath: Darryl Freeman shovels liquefaction from the front of his Christchurch home which was struck by the earthquake
But he told Business Desk that could now be a 'pessimistic' prediction. He said: 'It could be, from today, that was being conservative. Now, looking at Christchurch, that five per cent seems too light and you could be up to 10 per cent.
'That has massive consequences for infrastructure, networking, the whole capability of the city.'
In today's quake, fire engines, ambulances and police cars raced through the city to check on damage and casualties as people were asked not to use their mobile phones to keep emergency airwaves open.
Shoppers ran from supermarkets as goods crashed from shelves. Some people received injuries as they fled to the safety of streets. More than 26,000 homes were left without power after the shaking tripped switches, cutting supplies.
'We're dealing with some injuries,' said a spokesman for the ambulance service. Power was cut in most of the city and land line phones were down. In the Sumner area rockfalls were said to have damaged homes.
Roads cracked open and liquid gushed up from the sandy ground on which much of the city lies. A Qantas flight bound for Christchurch was diverted and it was expected other airlines would head for other cities.
The first 5.8-magnitude quake struck on Friday afternoon, local time, 16 miles north of Christchurch and 2.5 miles deep, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Minutes later, a 5.3-magnitude aftershock hit.
About an hour after that, the city was shaken by another 5.8-magnitude temblor, the USGS said, though New Zealand's geological agency GNS Science recorded it as 6.0.
Both aftershocks were less than three miles deep and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue an alert.
The earthquake was felt as far north as Wellington and Dunedin in the south.
Amy Adams, Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, was among those shaken by the quake.
She said: 'It was bad enough to have us diving under tables and grabbing each other. It's not what anyone needs at the end of a stressful year and heading into Christmas.'
Most of the buildings in Christchurch were evacuated, with people running into the streets, fearing that office structures would collapse.
'The rockfall issue is very much a live issue as rockfall has occurred again and the liquefaction is also an issue,' said Warwick Isaac, demolition manager for the city's earthquake authority.
Large cracks appeared on the Christchurch Casino building.
'The whole building was shaking and I was worried that it might just collapse, ' said cleaner Daniel Yeah who was having lunch in a restaurant across the road from the casino.
Actress Robyn Malcolm tweeted: 'F**k, that was terrifying.' Film-maker Logan McMillan said: 'The noises that come with it...it starts with a little shake before it hits in.
'I have friends down at the mall and they said there was stuff falling off the shelves and ceiling panels falling in. 'Everyone is evacuating. There's a bit of panic. They said it's chaos down there.'
Residents said serious thought would now have to be given as to whether the entire city should be abandoned for good, claiming the risks are too high and its future too uncertain.
Experts have predicted earthquakes will continue to hit the area for the next four years.
Many residents said insuring anything in Christchurch had become a 'nightmare' and it was not 'worth their while' to live there any more.
Callers flooded radio stations to tell of their individual scares. One caller to Newstalke ZB said the quake was 'as vicious' as the one in February.
'The first thing I felt was a little movement and I said "What's this?" and I said to my wife "Get under a door frame somewhere safe". I just dived under the bench,' said the caller.
Reporter Jo Scott said: 'It's absolutely frightening. My children are literally shaking and sobbing in my arms. That's the worst bit. But we're tough and we have a strong house and we'll be OK.'
But many residents said they were preparing for a follow-up quake or aftershocks which could be equally damaging.
Social media users told of their fears and how they were fed up with the quakes hitting the city.
'We knows, after a big one, that there are weeks and months of aftershocks ahead and that's what makes it so hard to bear,' wrote one person.
'Still in the car, trying to get home,' wrote one man. 'Police cars and ambulances rushing past.'
The desire to live in other areas was also apparent among many.
'If only we can relocate Christchurch somewhere else,' said one man. Seismologist Ken Gledhill said the quake was further from the city than most of the previous aftershocks, but it followed the same pattern.
'It's likely there will be a series of aftershocks which will gradually drop off,' he said.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker, who featured strongly after the February quake with regular updates for the rest of the world, was on holiday at Lake Taupo, on the North Island when he was told about the quake.
'I'm desperately trying to get back home - I'll be there later today. But it's going toe one hell of a day.' he said.
Police said all the shopping malls had been closed and patrols were searching the streets for damage.
The Science: Why Earthquakes Keep Hitting Christchurch
© Unknown
The plate boundary is east of the North Island and crosses to the west of the South Island.
Christchurch is not on the plate boundary, but is near to related secondary faults that result from the bend in the plate boundary to the north.
University of Melbourne's principal research fellow at the School of Earth Sciences Dr Gary Gibson told Perthnow.com: 'In the past 200 years and in the long term, large earthquakes will occur less frequently in Christchurch than along the plate boundary.
'However all earthquakes in the Christchurch region will be shallow, so the effect of a given earthquake will be worse than from a deeper plate boundary earthquake of the same magnitude.
'New Zealand is more prone to earthquakes because it is on the plate boundary and has many plate boundary earthquakes.'
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