Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre given all clear after Rotorua earthquakes

Rotorua Lakes Council has confirmed the Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre came through this week's earthquakes unscathed.

However, assessment of the Rotorua Museum, a more complex building, continues.

A Rotorua Lakes Council spokeswoman said the Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre has been given the "all clear" and contractors have continued with work as planned.

"The Rotorua Museum is a more complex building and engineers were completing inspections in there yesterday," she said.

"They will then provide a Rapid Assessment Report to council highlighting if Monday's earthquakes resulted in any damage."

More than 68 shakes were recorded during the swarm of earthquakes on Monday morning.

The largest, at 8.12am, measured 4.9 on the Richter Scale and struck at a depth of 5km, 20km east of Rotorua.

At 7.57am a quake measuring 4.5 struck at a depth of 8km, 20km east of Rotorua.

At 8.01am a 3.7 struck 15km east of the city at a depth of 17km. Several smaller quakes have been recorded since.

A statement from GeoNet said the swarm of shallow earthquakes had occurred in the Okataina Volcanic Centre, the largest widely felt across the upper North Island with more than 5200 felt reports.

The statement said earthquake swarms were common in the Taupō Volcanic Zone, especially in the area between Rotorua and Taupō, which is tectonically active.

A landslide at Lake Okataina which locals believe happened during the earthquakes.Photos / Supplied

Meanwhile, a landslide at Lake Okataina was suspected to have been caused by the earthquakes.

Lakes Lodge Okataina owner Nick Berryman said he saw and heard the landslide about 8.15am Monday, during the strongest of a swarm of earthquakes that hit the region.

"It was a huge one," Berryman said.

"We heard it come down and saw all the dust. You could hear the rumbling and then see the dust as it was coming off the hill."

He said the earthquakes were felt strongly in the area, causing some damage to items inside his home and at the lodge.

"We were up at home and everything was going nuts in the house - glasses and plates and bottles went flying. A big dresser fell over, it was very dramatic, a big one for sure.

"In the kitchen at the lodge there were plates glasses, bottles, wines and spirits all knocked over."

Yesterday, an Earthquake Commission spokesperson said 21 home owners had lodged a claim with EQC as a result of Monday's earthquake sequence.

Of those, one was from Kawerau, one from Tauranga City, three from Western bay of Plenty and 16 from the Rotorua District.