New Quakes Terrify Residents of Stricken New Zealand City

Posted June 13th, 2011 at 3:40 am (UTC-5)
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Two earthquakes hit near New Zealand's quake-ravaged city of Christchurch Monday, toppling a building in the sealed-off city center and sending frightened residents pouring into the streets.

Police say no one was killed but 10 people were injured. Two people were rescued from the Christchurch Cathedral, where a tower collapsed killing sight-seers during an earlier quake in February.

Reporters said officials briefly adjourned an inquest into the February quake and ordered everyone out of the building in response to the latest quakes. The February earthquake killed 181 people, including dozens of students at a foreign language school, and did $11 billion in damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured Monday's first quake, which hit at 1:00 p.m. , nine kilometers from Christchurch, at a magnitude of 5.2 and a depth of 11 kilometers.

The second quake, measuring 6.0, struck at 2:20 p.m. (0220 UTC)) and hit 13 kilometers from Christchurch at a depth of nine kilometers.

The deadly earthquake in February had a magnitude of 6.3.