CHRISTCHURCH ? The 7.0 magnitude earthquake which struck near the New Zealand city of Christchurch early Saturday is among the strongest to hit the earthquake-prone country since records began.

The quake struck at 04:35 am (1635 GMT Friday) at a depth of five kilometers and was centered (three miles) 45 kilometers west of Christchurch, according to the USGS.

New Zealand sits on so-called "Ring of Fire", the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year. It averages at least one a day that is magnitude 4.0 or stronger.

The strongest recorded earthquakes in the country are:

8.2 - January 23, 1855. Centered in the lower North Island and the most severe quake in New Zealand since European colonization began in 1840.
7.8 - July 16, 2009, only 12 kilometers deep in the remote Fiordland region.
7.8 - February 3, 1931. Centered in the Hawke's Bay. Claimed 256 lives in the most damaging of any recorded New Zealand quake.
7.8 - June 17, 1929. In the Buller region on the West Coast of the South island.
7.8 - October 16, 1848. Marlborough region.
7.6 - March 5 1934. Pahiatua in the lower North Island.
7.2 - June 24, 1942. In Wairarapa, lower North Island.
7.1 - May 24, 1968. At Inangahua on West Coast of South Island. Killed three.
7.1 - September 1, 1888. North Canterbury.
7.0 - September 4, 2010. Christchurch. Widespread damage.