Fortunately nobody died this time. It's seems like an especially active year this year though it probably has more to do with the locations of the earthquakes than the actual quantity. BBC News:
Several serious aftershocks have hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch, almost four months after a quake that killed 181 people.
A magnitude 5.2 quake struck at Taylors Mistake beach, 9.6km (six miles) from the city centre.
A second quake, magnitude 6.0, struck an hour and 20 minutes later, shaking buildings and causing injuries.
A number of people suffered minor injures; boulders have been reported to be tumbling down hillsides.
