A strong earthquake has struck part of Canterbury tonight.

It measured 4.7 on the Richter scale, and was located 10 kilometres southeast of Christchurch at a depth of 7 kilometres.

The tremor was recorded at 8.45pm and locals say it felt much stronger than its recorded measurement indicates.

M4.7 quake causing strong shaking near Christchurch https://t.co/Hj7quAAiH2

— GeoNet (@geonet) May 11, 2016

St John said no emergency calls have been received following the shake.

A Countdown supermarket spokesman said he was expecting stuff to fall off the shelves, but nothing did.

However, several people took to Facebook to share their shock at the strength of the quake.

"These earthquakes are getting worryingly stronger! I genuinely thought my house was going to fall down on top of me. Get me out of Christchurch," one person wrote.

"Biggest earthquake I've ever felt. Christchurch flying," another person wrote.

Christchurch resident Laura O'Gorman said it was a decent shake and definitely felt bigger than any of the earthquakes they've had recently.

Another resident, Barbara, said she knew the quake was happening when dogs started barking.

“My partner heard the rumble, and the dog must have sensed the rumble. The dogs over the back were barking their heads off, and then it all started to shake.”

Christchurch was rocked by a 5.7 quake in February - the largest in the city in four years - which hit 15km east of the city at a depth of 15km.

The February tremor sent cliff faces crumbling into the ocean, knocked items of shelves and caused liquefaction to bubble up from the earth. It struck just eight days out from the five-year anniversary of the February 22, 2011 quake which killed 185 people.