Canterbury residents woken by quake

Two light quakes were felt overnight in Christchurch. Photo / File

Canterbury residents were shaken awake by an earthquake this morning, which followed two in the area overnight.

The most recent tremor, measuring 4 in magnitude, struck at 6.54am, GNS Science said.

It was centred 20km north west of Oxford and was 11km deep.

Nearly 50 residents in the area reported feeling the shake.

Meanwhile, two light quakes were felt in Christchurch overnight.The first came at 11.30pm and was 10 kilometres southeast of Christchurch, GNS said.

The 8km deep shake had a magnitude of 2.7 and 58 felt reports were recorded between Dunedin and Blenheim.

The second quake, which was 9km deep and had a magnitude of 2.9, came at 3.15 this morning.

It was 10km south of Christchurch and had 57 felt reports recorded in Christchurch.Both shakes were classed as light by GeoNet.