19-02-2016 15:00

A powerful earthquake hit New Zealand’s South Island. The epicentre was only 14 kilometres from a city.

The earthquake hit just after 1 p.m. on Sunday when the beaches were busy with swimmers and surfers. Parts of the cliffs in the area fell down into the sea. Luckily, police say that nobody was seriously injured.

In 2011, however, a strong quake led to 185 deaths and destroyed much of the city.

The region often has earthquakes. The city lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire that is a line of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Difficult words: earthquake (when the earth or ground moves), epicentre (the place right above the centre of an earthquake), cliff (a wall of rock at the edge of the sea).

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