Jumpy residents, frazzled by the death and destruction in their city and frequent aftershocks since February 22's 6.3 shake, suffered through four more tremors in an hour and 20 minutes from 7.34pm.
The quake at that time was 4.8, sharp enough and long enough to unsettle many people and it was followed by shakes of 3.1, 3.8 and 2.9.
Most were close to Lyttleton and at shallow and medium depths.
To cap it all heavy rain set in from the south tonight and at about 10pm Christchurch's civil defence emergency management (CDEM) team warned the downpour could trigger slips or landslides on hillside areas.
It's presumed the warning was particularly relevant to hillsides loosened and cracked by the February 22 quake.
CDEM told residents to be "vigilant".
Christchurch shared the nation's temperature high today at 26 Celsius but the temperature had plunged to 12 degrees by 7pm as the cold southerly moved in to add to the misery of people coping with damaged or destroyed homes.
