2.5 magnitude earthquake off Whangārei, but no reports of damage

A map from GeoNet shows earthquakes recorded off Whangārei over the past year, with the most recent one - on Monday - the top blue dot.

Few people are believed to have felt it, but a magnitude 2.5 earthquake struck off Whangārei on Monday.

GeoNet, which monitors seismic activity and other geological information, said it had not received any reports of people feeling the quake, which happened at 7.10pm on Monday, about 73km east of the city and 5km deep.

And while news of an earthquake in Northland - the region least at risk from seismic activity in New Zealand - may come as a surprise to many, they are far more common than people may think, with round 10 in the past 12 months.

''Using our QuakeSearch tool - https://quakesearch.geonet.org.nz/ - there have been a few earthquakes offshore Whangārei in the past 12months,'' a GeoNet spokesperson said.

However, none are understood to have caused damage.

For details of the latest quake go to:geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2021p973667.

While Northland is a low earthquake risk, one of it's main natural disaster risks is tsunami from earthquakes overseas, with the region having a series of tsunami warning sirens around its 2700km coastline.

A tsunami evacuation order was issued for Northland on March 5 after the massive 8.1 magnitude earthquake at the Kermadecs. That alert saw tens of thousands of Northlanders, including around 15,000 from the Whangārei central city, evacuate to higher ground.

Notable Northland quakes struck Maungaturoto in 1978 and a magnitude 4.3 quake struck in 1995. In December 2003, Maungaturoto and surrounds were again shaken by a 4.4 quake at a depth of 12km, and a swarm of six small earthquakes occurred near Takou Bay in September 2006.