The earthquake near Wellington tonight caused weak shaking. Photo / GeoNet
New Zealand has been shaken by a series of earthquakes on Saturday evening.
A magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck 25km southwest of Wellington just after 8.30pm and was felt by more than 1500 people, according to GeoNet.
The majority of people, over 940, indicated the shaking was only weak and more than 500 reporting the shaking they felt was light.
One person living near State Highway 1 north of Blenheim in the South Island said the shaking they felt was extreme.
It comes after parts of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, and Bay of Plenty were shaken by a magnitude 4.7 quake which struck 125km north of Te Kaha.
The 7.53pm quake was 5km deep and the shaking was unnoticeable close to the quake.
However, there were reports of people feeling shaking on the Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island.
There have also been several smaller quakes since - at 8.05pm west of Taupo rated 2.2, and at 8.20pm north of Te Kaha rated 2.7.
On August 29, a magnitude 5.2 quake struck 120km northeast of Whangamatā at a depth of 5km not long before 4am and was felt by more than 2500 people.
The weak - but rare - jolt was felt throughout Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty.
Auckland doesn't usually get rocked by earthquakes but they are common in the Bay of Plenty, GNS Science seismologist John Ristau told the Herald last month.
"Last time there was anything of any reasonable size near Auckland was at the beginning of 2019 when there were three magnitude fours," he said.
"Those only had a couple hundred felt reports, not like 2500 that we've had for this one but that's probably due to the magnitude more than anything else."
The judge said the man's actions were 'calculated, manipulative, and highly premeditated'.