It comes after a series of smaller quakes around Christchurch over the last few days, the latest a 3.4 magnitude quake 5km south of Christchurch on Saturday afternoon.
The quake hit at 3.19pm about 5km south of Christchurch, according to Geonet, in the Port Hills. The earthquake had a depth of 4km.
More than 6000 people had registered feeling the quake.
"As if being in lockdown wasn't enough! That was a good shake although it was only M3.4 in the Port Hills but it was shallow at 4km deep. We have had almost 6,200 felt reports from around Christchurch - remember to drop cover hold," Geonet tweeted shortly after the quake.
A Mt Pleasant resident said the house was "rattling and shaking".
"It gave me a fright. The reason you feel bad is this was not out of the blue. This is about the third one in a few months," the resident whose house was destroyed in the 2011 earthquakes said.
"If we had a big one now it would be disastrous. It's very disconcerting," the resident, who did not want to be named, said.
"For us the Covid-19 lockdown is a breeze compared to the earthquakes."
Satirist Joe Bennett, who lives in Lyttelton said the earthquake was nothing compared to what Cantabrians had experienced before.
"I felt it. It wasn't significant. Ten years ago it became a game to estimate the magnitude of each shake and anything under 5 didn't rate a mention.
Another Christchurch resident tweeted: "Ah, heard that one coming maybe a second before it hits. Bit of a jolt in Riccarton, Christchurch."
A police spokeswoman was unaware of any incidents arising from the earthquake.
