Homes in Avoca Valley Road in Heathcote Valley near Christchurch have been evacuated due to the risk of rockfalls in any further aftershocks.
The affected homes are numbers two to 96 Avoca Valley Road.
The houses were evacuated at about 3pm on Sunday by the police.
About 20 families are affected and they will be housed overnight at the Pioneer Stadium welfare centre.
Civil Defence say residents who were not at home at the time of the evacuations will be allowed into their houses long enough to retrieve important possessions.
