Big Christchurch shake as anniversary of Feb 2011 looms

Christchurch was rocked by a 5.7 earthquake on Sunday afternoon. It was one of the most violent for more than three years.

There were no immediate reports of serious injury, and the Fire Service says there have been no reports of major structural damage. Earthquake Commission Minister Gerry Brownlee says there have been reports of minor liquefaction. St John says it had a sharp spike in calls but only for minor mishaps.

GeoNet reports the quake struck at 1.13pm at a depth of 15km, 15km east of the city. The agency has tracked more than a dozen aftershocks, most light to weak with the heaviest a 3.6.

Lampshades swung wildly, books fell from shelves and some homeowners experienced similar minor damage while fire alarms went off.

The main shake was followed a smaller one a few minutes later.

It was a rude wakeup call, coming just a week out from the fifth year anniversary of the biggest February 2011 earthquake, which was followed by aftershocks for the rest of that year.

One man who was riding a bicycle says it sounded as if a freight train was about to run over him.

For a brief period, telephones would not work.

Rocks fell from cliffs at the seaside suburb of Sumner, sparking panic and some dramatic images but there were no injuries.

Scarborough's a little dusty #eqnz Hope all's well over there pic.twitter.com/iMZ72FiWaf

— Richard Loffhagen (@catering_4_chch) February 14, 2016

A beachgoer took photographs of the cliffs at Sumner which look as though they are covered in falling debris. Police are warning people to stay away from the area.

Briscoes Christchurch (@SeanHoganNZ)

Some people in supermarkets panicked and sought shelter.

The earthquake appeared to be just under the level that normally triggered liquefaction during late 2010 and twice during 2011, although there are unconfirmed reports of liquefaction in one of the beach suburbs.

Two men in a sailing boat at Lyttelton Heads say it felt as though they ran over a whale and they saw rocks and debris as part of the cliffs fell.

Spark says 10 of its cellsites in the area are down. Vodafone says it is having network issues post-quake but has yet to comment in detail. 2degrees has yet to make any statement.

Chorus says an initial assessment of its network in Christchurch indicates it was no damage.

Air New Zealand says flights in and out of Christchurch are running as normal with "minimal delays."

Wow a 5.7 - caught it at Taylors Mistake #nzquake pic.twitter.com/4TNofSTxgE

— Thomas Wieberneit (@twieberneit) February 14, 2016