Quake shakes Christchurch

Christchurch residents were shaken awake by a magnitude 4.0 quake this morning but there have been no reports of damage.

The 8km deep quake struck within 5km of Lyttelton at 7.01am, GNS Science reported.

Sergeant Liam McHugh of Christchurch police said there had been no report of damage.

He had been in the watchhouse of the 13-storey police building when the quake struck, which made "things start to shake a wee bit."

"We're on the very lower level of that, so it does get a bit dicey here at times. They say it's safe - you've got to believe them I suppose.''

Mr McHugh said it was a fairly standard quake.

"We don't get out of bed for anything under five down here now.''

But some Christchurch residents who took to Twitter after the quake weren't so lucky, with one reporting he had been shaken from his sleep by the "wake up call''.

- APNZ