A "strong" magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck central New Zealand and was felt widely in Wellington. The shake was 15km deep and centred 15km southeast of Seddon. Photo / GeoNet
A strong 5.1 magnitude earthquake has rattled Wellington this evening.
The quake struck at 5.39pm. It was centred 15km southwest of Seddon in the upper South Island at a depth of 12km.
The quake was felt by nearly 5700 people as far away as Auckland.
An NZME reporter in Wellington said the quake was “relatively big”.
“Oh that’s no good,” said one staffer in a Parliament office.
“That was f***ing nutty”, said another parliamentary staffer.
NZ First MP Jenny Macroft said the earthquake caused a “bit of a shake in the house!”
It comes just hours after a 7.3 quake struck near Vanuatu, destroying buildings and sparking fears of a “mass casualty event”.
Tsunami waves were seen in the area but the tsunami risk has now passed.
The National Emergency Management Agency confirmed there was no tsunami threat for New Zealand.
More to come
Some in the community were "devastated" by the change, which will begin in mid-January.