Residents in one of the Marlborough streets battered by this week's quakes are seeking solace from each other while anxiously awaiting aftershocks.

The severe earthquake which rocked NZ this afternoon sent workers in Wellington running into the streets as the ground shook and buildings swayed from side to side.

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

A series of aftershocks have rumbled across central New Zealand this morning, sparked by a strong magnitude 4.9 jolt near Seddon, Marlborough shortly before 1am.

A shallow 4.2 magnitude earthquake has been detected near East Cape, after a strong aftershock near Wellington this morning.

Residents have cleared out of a central Wellington street while urgent work is carried out on a quake-damaged carpark lift which could come crashing down in an aftershock.

More than 1000 claims have been lodged with the Earthquake Commission following the swarm of quakes centred off the Seddon coast.

A hunter with hypothermia has been rescued after his campsite was washed away in Fiordland this morning.

Two teens were sexually assaulted during a Picton home invasion, and a West Coast woman was attacked while she slept, in two separate attacks early on Sunday morning.

Viva wine editor Jo Burzynska traverses plains, valleys and rivers on a pinot noir safari in Marlborough.

The trip on the Interislander is possibly the country's most beautiful ride. That's about to change if the Government proceeds with plans to shift the South Island ferry terminal to a windswept beach that looks like Dunkirk.

Police have named a man who died after his car plunged more than 150m off a bank in the Marlborough Sounds on Monday.

A 2011 plane crash landing could have been avoided if the pilots were taught how hard to pull a landing gear lever, a report has found.

A man who severed two fingers while splitting wood was just one of four incidents the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter attended yesterday

A young man who was killed when his car left the road and crashed into a tree was eating chips and dip at the time of the crash, a coroner has found.

A solo Dutch tramper who became lost and disoriented in poor weather in Marlborough yesterday afternoon has been rescued by helicopter.

The two tourists killed in yesterday's horror crash in Malborough had only just met and were sharing a ride, police say.

'Atrocious conditions' were partially to blame for a horror crash in Marlborough this afternoon, which killed two tourists.

A boatie was unable to pull his drunken friend to safety after he fell overboard while urinating over the side of the launch they were on in the Marlborough Sounds.

Findings in an inquiry into an Air Nelson plane that skidded along a runway on its nose landing gear doors have been dismissed by the airline.