Cantabrians kick off festivities with a jolt

Cars are seen travelling through Christchurch following Friday's quakes. Photo / Simon Baker

Aftershocks kept on rumbling as Christmas Day dawned in Christchurch, but the shaking didn't put too much of a damper on the festivities.

The first shake rolled under the city at 4.44am and was recorded by Geonet as a magnitude 3, about 8km deep.

Two minutes later, a 3.3 struck, followed by three 3.5 shakes between 5.14am and 5.26am.

A series of aftershocks ranging between 3.0 and 3.7 hit at intervals of about half an hour and then things calmed slightly just before 8am.

But a 3.5 at 12.47pm set the ground moving regularly again, just in time for Christmas lunch.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker described 2011 as a "hellish year" for Cantabrians, made worse by two violent shakes on Friday afternoon.

But he said there was a real determination not to let the latest shakes ruin Christmas in the Garden City. Those shakes caused power and water cuts to residents in the eastern suburbs of the city, and council staff were working hard to make as many repairs as quickly as possible.

"I am determined to get as much as we can fixed by tonight so that our staff, apart from a skeleton team, can spend Christmas with their families," Mr Parker said.

There were 36 earthquakes, ranging from 3.1 to 6.0, between 1.58pm on Friday and midday on Christmas Eve. Four of those were 5.0 or bigger.

Resident Rachael Coomber said Christmas Day was much quieter than usual. After a hold-up getting supplies because shops were closed after Friday's shakes, everything was back on track for her family, who spent the day together at their Fendalton home.

She said there were a few small aftershocks overnight on Christmas Eve which caused a few nervous moments.

"Things seem to be back to normal for now, though, but we're still waiting."