A Christchurch pensioner "roughed up'' by armed police while protecting his quake-hit property has welcomed watchdog findings which slams the officers' actions.

Westpac Stadium has received the all-clear to host Saturday's Bledisloe Cup rugby clash in Wellington.

More than 4000 claims have poured into the Earthquake Commission following the central New Zealand earthquakes back in July, and damage assessment will begin today.

A sequence of quakes rattling the centre of the country appears to be shifting down the South Island and away from Wellington.

The Red Cross has wound down its operations in Seddon after Friday's earthquake damaged homes, leaving some uninhabitable.

People in central New Zealand are living with a 20 per cent - one in five - chance of another magnitude six quake in the next week, a scientist says.

Wracked with sobs, Doug Avery describes the last 20 terrifying, shaky hours living a few kilometres from the epicentre of Friday's big quake.

It takes more than a magnitude-6.6 earthquake and scores of aftershocks to keep Wellingtonians away from one of the most important dates on the social calendar - the Saturday morning opening day of Kirkcaldie and Stains' Once-A-Year sale.

The weekend events calendar in the capital was shaken up by Friday's jolt and subsequent aftershocks.

Emergency workers reported a quiet night in Wellington despite aftershocks continuing to shake the city.

Call it luck or a spooky coincidence, but staff and students at a Wellington primary school were ready and waiting for yesterday's big earthquake.

I had been putting off going into the ANZ since it merged with my trusty old black stallion bank, the National Bank.

When the notion of housing part of Te Papa's collection on the Auckland waterfront was put forward a few years ago, it was well received. Nothing happened, however, to progress it past the status of a good idea.

Laura-Jean Kerslake stood screaming for her infant son in the doorway of her Seddon home as the walls crumbled around her.

Marlborough and Wellington residents tell their stories of today's earthquake and its aftermath.

People on the streets of Wellington react to this afternoon's 6.6 quake and aftershocks.

Wine bottles fall from shelves and displays during the 6.6 quake at Glengarry Wines in Kelburn, Wellington. Courtesy: Youtube.com/Glengarry Wine

Matt Boivin who was in a history lecture, recounts the moment when this afternoon's 6.6 quake hit in the Wellington region.

Staff at Voon Shop drop, cover and hold during the earthquake in Wellington. Courtesy: YouTube.com/Voon Wellington

Watch an animation of the last 48 hours of earthquakes from Wellington and Seddon from Wednesday 14 August to this afternoon's 3pm quake.

A severe earthquake has shaken the Wellington region this afternoon.

Click here for the latest updates on the earthquakes shaking the Wellington region this afternoon.

Te Papa is looking for places outside of Wellington to safely store the nation's treasures, but it is unlikely the plans will revive a proposal on Auckland's waterfront.

Reports of a strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake on the East Cape this afternoon were incorrect, and were the result of a magnitude-6 earthquake some distance from New Zealand.