Swarm of earthquakes hit Christchurch

Demolition continues in Christchurch. Photo / APN

A flurry of small but shallow aftershocks have hit Christchurch this morning, according to GNS Science.

The first of the four jolts came at 6.09am, a magnitude 3.3 10km west of Christchurch, at a depth of 7km.

It was followed eight minutes later by a magnitude 3.1, 10km west of Christchurch at a depth of 8km.

At 6.21am, a magnitude 3.2 struck at a depth of 8km, followed by a magnitude 2.8 at 5km deep a minute later, both 10km southwest of the city.

The swarm of small tremors did not go unnoticed by Cantabrians, who shared their thoughts on social networking website Twitter.

"Sooo glad it wasn't my imagination," Rebecca Guyan wrote on her twitter account. "There were 4 quakes just after 6am this morning. All small, but I felt them for sure #eqnz."

Annie Sherratt, 2Rsand2Ts, noted the increase in aftershocks in recent days.

"Cluster of small #eqnz this morning. The big question: are they building up or settling down?"

- Herald Online Staff