Christchurch City of New Zealand and its surrounding district were once again hit by a magnitude 5 earthquake, almost six weeks after the high intensity tremor rocked the island-nation.

The temblor struck at 11:32 a.m. local time and was centered about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the city, which is the largest on the nation's South Island, a New Zealand agency said on its website. The epicenter was 9 kilometers below ground, Bloomberg reported.

The city is still on recovery mode since the Sept. 4 earthquake, which had a 7 magnitude. The damage of that eathquake was estimated at US$3 billion, which toppled down houses, buildings, and other structures.

Today's aftershock was the strongest of 30 felt in the region over the past week, according to GNS Science.

The stuff.co.nz website reported: "Power was cut to about 10,000 customers of Christchurch- based Orion Networks Ltd. for about 15 minutes, citing the distribution company's report. A shopping mall was evacuated after shops suffered damage to stock, according to the report.

Departures from Christchurch's airport were delayed while the runways were checked, Radio New Zealand said.