Another earthquake registering 4.0 on the Richter scale struck southern New Zealand on Tuesday evening, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
There is no information as of yet on possible deaths or devastation after the quake.
The quake was registered at 10:42 p.m. local time (09:42 GMT) to the southeast of Christchurch, the country's second largest city, which was hit be a devastating 6.3 earthquake on February 22. The epicenter of Tuesday's quake was 10.1 kilometers (6.3 miles) underground.
The death in last week's earthquake may rise to 240 from the current 154, Radio New Zealand said on Tuesday citing Police Superintendent Dave Cliff. The downtown area of Christchurch has been almost completely destroyed by the quake.
Rescuers pulled 70 survivors from the rubble in the first days after last week's tremor. Only eight victims of the quake have been formally identified so far.
The economic damage caused by the earthquake has been estimated at $15 billion.
Two minutes of silence were observed at 12:51 p.m. local time on Tuesday, exactly the time when the disaster struck a week ago.
New Zealand's worst earthquake, which killed 256 people in Napier, took place on February 3, 1931.
MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti)
