当地时间14号0点02分（北京时间13日晚7点02分），新西兰南岛发生7.5级地震，震中位于南岛中部小城卡尔弗登东北15公里，震源深度15公里。据中国驻克赖斯特彻奇总领事金智健介绍，有一名中国公民在地震中受伤。

The quake was centered 15 km northeast of Culverden, on the east of the South Island, and struck at 12:02 a.m. on Monday, according to the government's GeoNet monitoring service.

The quake was 15 km deep and was felt widely throughout New Zealand.

It is being followed by many aftershocks, the largest of them a magnitude of 6.2.

新西兰民防部门也已发布了海啸预警信号，敦促东海岸居民转移到高处或其他安全地区。

The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management (MCDEM) issued a tsunami warning along most of the country's eastern coasts after the initial earthquake and urged residents to move to higher ground.

但稍后，这一警报被降级至“海事和海滩威胁”，但民防部门仍要求民众保持警惕，不可大意。

The tsunami warning was later downgraded to a marine and beach threat, but the MCDEM still urged people to stay off beaches, stay out of the water, and not go sightseeing.





而新西兰的旅游小镇凯库拉在此次地震中受损严重，救援小组目前正在全力恢复该镇的通讯和交通。

Emergency services were trying to reopen communications and transport to the tourist town of Kaikoura after a deadly earthquake rocked much of New Zealand early Monday.

Roads into Kaikoura, on the northeast coast of the South Island, were blocked by landslides after the 7.5-magnitude quake hit just after midnight.



据警方确认，目前已有两人在此次地震中遇难。

Police confirmed the two deaths, saying emergency services were still working at the scenes.

One fatality occurred at a property at Mount Lyford, north of Christchurch, on the east of the South Island, and the other at a reported collapsed property in Kaikoura.

新西兰总理约翰•基和国防部长格里•布朗利称伤亡数字或将继续上升。

Prime Minister John Key and Acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said it was impossible to rule out further fatalities.