A "severe" magnitude 6.5 quake that struck hundreds of kilometres off the Bay of Plenty coast was felt in centres across the region.
GeoNet said the 82km deep earthquake struck 455km northeast of Whakatane at 5.12pm.
It was felt in Tauranga, Opotiki, Rotorua, Hamilton, Gisborne, and Napier, according to reports submitted to the GeoNet website.
The reports said the quake was of light or weak intensity.
