Magnitude 5.0 earthquake between Tauranga and Rotorua - but few in the Bay felt it

The earthquake was mainly felt in the east and south of the North Island. Image / geonet.org.nz

An earthquake has struck close to Tauranga, but it appears no one in the Bay of Plenty noticed.

The 5.0 magnitude Labour Day shake happened at 5.44am.

It was 276km deep and 20km south of Tauranga.

As of 8am, just over 900 people reported to Geonet they felt the shake, most of whom were located along the East Coast and the bottom of the North Island.

Geonet posted on its Facebook page the deep earthquake was on the Pacific tectonic plate, far to the west of where it dives under the Hikurangi fault.

"Deep earthquakes like this are often only felt above where the two plates meet, which is why our felt reports show up more along the coast."

An early morning shake for lots of you, particularly down the East Coast of the North Island! M5.0, 276 km deep, 20 km...

Posted by GeoNet on Sunday, 27 October 2019