Christchurch still shaking nearly a year after devastating tremor

Wellington - Christchurch was still shaking Friday nearly a year after a devastating earthquake began a series of tremors that wrecked the city centre and thousands of homes.

Residents were shaken awake at 3:29 am (1529 GMT Thursday) by a magnitude-4.9 tremor that shook items off shelves and caused minor damage, news reports said.

The quake was centred 10 kilometres east of Christchurch's port town, Lyttelton, at a depth of 6 kilometres.

Sunday will mark the first anniversary of a magnitude-7.1 quake that caused widespread damage in New Zealand's second-largest city and surrounding towns.

The city's commercial centre is still closed following a destructive magnitude-6.3 quake on February 22 that killed 181 people.

Seismologists said there have been at least 8,300 earthquakes in the Canterbury province, including more than 300 larger than magnitude-4, in the last 12 months. //DPA