KEY POINTS:
A string of earthquake jolted parts of New Zealand overnight.
These follow the magnitude 7.3 quake that struck near New Zealand's sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands on Sunday night.
GNS science recorded five earthquakes yesterday from Mount Cook to Turangi.
A magnitude 4.1 quake struck Mount Cook at 5.25pm. It was centred 30km north of the mountain and was 2km deep.
Earlier in the afternoon, a quake measuring 4.5 on the richter scale shook the central North Island.
The quake at 3.12pm was centred 10km northeast of Turangi and was 5km deep.
At 6.20pm a second smaller quake, 2.8 in magnitude, hit 20km north east of Turangi at a depth of 5km.
A 3.7 magnitude quake hit 20km south of Porangahau, Waipukurau, at a depth of 25km at 11.05pm.
At 11.46pm a magnitude 3.9 quake struck 30km southwest of Takaka at a depth of 5km.
GNS science seismologist Nora Patterson said aside from the two quakes near Turangi the earthquakes were not connected as the epicentres of them were too far apart.
It was likely the second smaller quake in Turangi yesterday was an aftershock to the first magnitude 4.5 quake, she said.
New Zealand generally had about four quakes a week on average so it was more quakes than normal, but they were "purely coincidence" and there was no cause for any alarm, Ms Patterson said.
The 7.3 quake on Sunday hit at 6.23pm at a depth of 12km, GNS science reported.
It was centred 220km northwest of the uninhabited Auckland Islands, which are 475km southwest of Invercargill.
A tsunami warning was issued for Australia, but while sea level fluctuations were measured in Tasmanian waters, no harm was caused and the warnings were downgraded.
- NZPA
