5.8-magnitude quake hits New Zealand city — USGS

This photo taken by 11-year-old Karina Croitoru shows Christchurch’s Sacred Heart Cathedral after the quake of 2011.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch Sunday, seismologists said, sending goods flying off shelves.

Sirens could be heard going off around the South Island city and at least one building was evacuated, according to media reports.

The quake struck a week before the fifth anniversary of a deadly 6.3 tremor in Christchurch which killed 185 in one of New Zealand’s deadliest disasters.

The latest quake was measured at 5.8 by the US Geological Survey at a shallow depth of about eight kilometers (five miles) and centered 17 kilometers west of the city.

New Zealand is on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, which form part of the so-called “Ring of Fire”, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year.

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