'Huge' tremor shakes Eketahuna

A 4.4 magnitude quake struck near Eketahuna shortly before 8am Monday and was felt as far away as Masterton and Carterton. FILE PHOTO

A strong quake centred near Eketahuna alarmed some people in the district and was felt as far away as Masterton and Carterton yesterday morning.

Kerrie Brewer, Four Square Eketahuna checkout operator, said she was in the store with a couple of customers when the 4.4 magnitude quake struck shortly before 8am yesterday.

She said the tremor had startled the customers and herself but there was no damage caused by it.

"It was really strong but there was no damage or anything." The quake was felt in Masterton and Carterton, where there were scattered reports of people feeling the tremor.

Eketahuna woman Amorine Ward had also been alarmed at the intensity of the quake, posting on Facebook there seemed little damage "but it was huge and I was very scared".

According to earthquake monitor GeoNet, the tremor was strong at magnitude 4.4 and had struck about 5km south-east of Eketahuna at a focal depth of 11km.

The quake came about 12 hours after a 3.6 magnitude tremor was recorded near Castlepoint on Sunday.

That quake was centred about 30km north-east of Castlepoint at a depth of around 20km. It was classed as light.