© GEONETThe quake, which struck at 9.19am, was centred 15 km north-west of Culverden at a depth of 9km, GeoNet reported.
A "severe" magnitude 5.2 earthquake in North Canterbury has been felt across the country.
The quake, which struck at 9.19am, was centred 15km north-west of Culverden
at a depth of 9km, GeoNet reported.
It was felt widely. On GeoNet's site more than 1350 people lodged "felt it" reports.
GeoNet duty seismologist Dr Anna Kaiser said it was certain the shake was an aftershock from the big Kaikoura one on November 14.
"That's definitely within the aftershock area of the Kaikoura earthquake."
She said it was "very typical" to see that type of aftershock following a quake of the magnitude of the one in November.
As of January 19, GeoNet had predicted an 89 per cent chance of one or more aftershock between magnitude 5 and magnitude 5.9 occurring on the next 30 days.
Comment: Update: Tallest US dam in California might collapse, immediate evacuation ordered - sheriff
The sheriff in Butte County, California has ordered an immediate evacuation of all people below the damaged Oroville dam, which is feared to be in danger of imminent collapse, Reuters reports.
"Immediate evacuation from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream is ordered. This is NOT A Drill. This is NOT A Drill. This in NOT A Drill," says the statement posted on the Butte County Sheriff's Facebook page.
The statement refers to the Lake Oroville Dam, located 105 km (65 miles) north of Sacramento.
The dam's spillway was "predicted to fail within the next hour," the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) said at around 4:30pm PST Sunday (00:30 GMT Monday).
"DO NOT TRAVEL NORTH TOWARD OROVILLE," the Yuba County Office of Emergency Services said on Facebook, urging evacuees to travel safely in all other directions and help the elderly.
Update (06:56 GMT)
At least 188,000 residents evacuated as water continues to burst through an eroded spillway - prompting fears of massive floods
Officials have ordered at least 188,000 residents near the Oroville Dam with no word yet when evacuations will be lifted because of the uncertainty about the condition of the dam's spillway, said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.
Releases through the dam's main, heavily damaged spillway increased to 100,000 cubic feet per second from 55,000 cubic feet per second on Sunday to try to drain Lake Oroville before a failure occurs, said the California Department of Water Resources. Water falling over the Oroville Dam's emergency spillway has stopped as Oroville lake levels dropped low enough.
Lake levels fell for the first time since Saturday and will now allow for inspection of the area. The threat of collapse due to erosion has diminished, said officials at a recent press conference.
On Sunday night, state water authorities used helicopters to drop containers of boulders to fill in the 250-foot-long, 170-foot-wide hole in the main spillway to stabilize the problem.
The cost of repairing a gaping hole in the spillway for the tallest dam in the United States could reach $200million.
Another storm is predicted to hit the area in a few days, which means California's Department of Water Resources will have to continuously monitor inflows into Lake Oroville.