Magnitude 5 quake under Lake Taupō felt by thousands across North Island

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has occurred 81km below Lake Taupō. Photo / GeoNet

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake below Lake Taupō was felt by hundreds of residents across the North Island after midday today.

The quake - labelled as light by GeoNet - hit 20 kilometres northeast of Tūrangi at 12.14pm today at a depth of 81km.

“It was felt across the North Island, with not many reports [of shaking being felt] close to the quake itself,” GeoNet said in an online update.

“This is due to its depth and location on the subducting tectonic plate under the North Island - most of the quake’s energy travels up and along the plate to the surface closer to the east and south of the North Island. It is not related to the Taupō volcano.”

One woman in south Waikato, approximately 80 kilometres from the epicentre, described feeling the shake.

“I’m in Putāruru and yes, daughter and I both felt it and noticed things moving. But son sitting in the same room was oblivious lol,” the woman posted on social media.

A M5.0 earthquake with light shaking has occurred 81km below Lake Taupo. It was felt across the North Island, with not many felt reports close to the quake itself. This is due to its depth and location on the subducting tectonic plate under the North Island ... 1/2 pic.twitter.com/3fL4TfYWyy

— GeoNet (@geonet) February 3, 2023

Another person commented “Yep felt it.... from Hamilton”, and further south, another posted “Yesss felt in Whanganui”.

One Napier resident described it as a “fair shake”.

There are more than 2000 people who have felt the shaking across the North Island, with the strongest impacts reported around Napier.

Residents as far north as Auckland and as far south as Wellington have reported feeling the quake.