Moderate earthquake of magnitude 4.7 just reported 21 km southeast of Christchurch, New Zealand

A very shallow magnitude 4.7 earthquake was reported around noon near Christchurch, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand.
According to New Zealand's Earthquake Commission and Geological Survey (GeoNet), the quake hit on Saturday, March 18th, 2023, at 1:42 pm local time at a very shallow depth of 5 km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake which listed the quake at magnitude 4.3.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Governors Bay (pop. 940) located 16 km from the epicenter, New Brighton (pop. 6,200) 18 km away, Christchurch (pop. 363,900) 21 km away, and Fendalton (pop. 4,600) 25 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.

Weak shaking might have been felt in Prebbleton (pop. 3,600) located 27 km from the epicenter, Belfast (pop. 4,500) 28 km away, Kaiapoi (pop. 10,200) 35 km away, and Rangiora (pop. 18,400) 44 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Ashburton (pop. 30,100) located 93 km from the epicenter.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

Earthquake data:
Date & time: Mar 18, 2023 1:42 pm (GMT +13) local time (18 Mar 2023 00:42 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.7
Depth: 5.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 43.66°S / 172.83°E (South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand)
Primary data source: GEONET (NZ)