text: Earthquake jolts New Zealands South Island . WELLINGTON 1996-08-29 An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale shook New Zealands upper South Island on Thursday but there were no reports of injuries , Television New Zealand said . It said the quake , centred near the small town of Waiau , was strongly felt in the cities of Nelson and Christchurch . Some minor damage had been reported in the spa town of Hanmer . New Zealand is prone to frequent earthquakes but they rarely cause major damage . The country has only 3.5 million people in an area about the size of Britain or Japan .