Quake jolts coast, cuts power

An earthquake measuring 7 rocked much of New Zealand last night, knocking out power to parts of the East Coast.

Police in Auckland said they had received calls from throughout the city reporting the quake but there had been no damage.

The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said the quake, which was felt as far south as Marlborough, was centred 420km northeast of Gisborne, off the coast.

At 33km deep it was described as a shallow quake.

An institute seismologist said aftershocks could be expected for some weeks.

A Gisborne police spokeswoman said most of the East Coast was without power soon after the quake struck at 6.52 pm but it was restored by 8 pm.

The Gisborne St John Ambulance said it had been unable to refuel its vehicles because the severe jolt cut power to petrol pumps.

Gisborne Civil Defence officer Richard Steele said that within seconds of the earthquake, people using mobile phones jammed up networks.

There were also problems with land lines.

Police in Napier, Whakatane and Tauranga said last night that they had not received any reports of damage.

The quake was the strongest recorded in NZ since one measuring 7.3 on August 15 last year.

A spokesman for the power firm Eastland Network said Tolaga Bay, 56km northeast of Gisborne, and other areas lost their electricity supplies when a substation was damaged.

One Gisborne woman who has lived in the city for almost 70 years said the earthquake was one of the worst she had felt.

"There was a deep rumbling noise along the road and then the house started shaking."

She estimated the tremor lasted about 45 seconds.

Joy Schade, from Tairua in the Coromandel, said the earthquake went on for some time.

"I just sat here and watched all my plants swinging around. I was on the edge of my seat waiting."

The earthquake that struck the area around Edgecumbe in the Bay of Plenty on March 2, 1987, measured 6.5.

At 12km deep it was more violent than last night's and caused extensive damage.

- STAFF REPORTER, NZPA