Three quakes rattle Wairarapa

A trio of Wairarapa earthquakes was recorded in the region yesterday, according to GNS Science.

A hat-trick of earthquakes rattled Wairarapa yesterday.

The first quake struck at 12.06am about 20km north of Castlepoint and was recorded as a magnitude 4 tremor at a depth of 49km, according to GNS Science.

The second quake was stronger at magnitude 5.4 and struck at 2.41am about 15km south-west of Pongaroa at a depth of 14km.

A police spokesman said there had been no initial reports of damage.

"It was a good jolt," Heidi Hill from Pongaroa Hotel said.

Ms Hill said she "heard it before I felt it" and she understood the hotel had escaped the tremor undamaged.

People 200km away from the epicentre felt the quake.

"It felt like the epicentre was here in Paraparaumu Beach," Miles Lacey tweeted.

The last recorded shake of the day was a 3.8 magnitude quake, which struck at 3.24pm about 10km southwest of Pongaroa at a depth of 12 km.