Geonet records a further 27 aftershocks in Hawke’s Bay overnight

There were 27 aftershocks overnight centred around Pōrangahau. Photo / Geonet

GeoNet has recorded 27 aftershocks in the hours of darkness after yesterday’s “severe” magnitude 5.9 earthquake near Pōrangahau.

From 6pm Wednesday to 8am Thursday, aftershocks ranged from magnitude 2.1 to magnitude 4.2. The average depth of the shakes stayed around 14km.

They were all predominantly located within 5km of Pōrangahau, in a similar area where the original quakes struck.

GeoNet classed most of them as “weak” and “light”, with two at 6.01pm and 8.54pm reaching the “moderate” threshold (4.2 and 3.9 magnitude respectively).

Yesterday’s first quake struck at a depth of 21km at 10.16am. This was soon followed by a magnitude 5.4 quake at a depth of 17km a few minutes later in the same place and then another 38 aftershocks within three hours.

While police and FENZ said they did not respond to any incidents related to the quake, many people around the Hawke’s Bay and surrounding regions felt the shakes, and many in Pōrangahau experienced damage to house contents.

The contents of The Duke Hotel’s office shelves ended up on the floor as earthquakes and aftershocks shook the village on Wednesday. Photo/ Rachel Wise

One Pōrangahau resident said the area had been “smashed by the biggest earthquake”.

“S*** flying everywhere out of cupboards and shelves, a second one just starting out house is rocking uncontrollably.”

CHB Mayor Hawke’s Bay Alex Walker said the Pōrangahau area had been hard hit by Cyclone Gabrielle and were already “pretty shaken up” and the quake had simply “shaken them further”.