Residents were fleeing Seddon last night after a 5.5 earthquake rattled the quake-weary town.

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.

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.

The New Zealand dollar dropped almost half a US cent and the NZX suspended trading after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Wellington.

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

A power company employee refused to enter a property to read the meter because he feared being attacked by the homeowner's "ferocious gander".

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.

New Zealand was one of the first Commonwealth countries to mark the birth of the Royal baby today with a 21-gun salute.

Wellington's mayor is hopeful it will be business as normal tomorrow despite 35 buildings in the CBD found to have been externally damaged by yesterday's severe earthquake.

Scientists are deploying extra seismic instruments in Marlborough to enable more accurate measurement of the aftershocks off the coast of Seddon.

Livestream of the media conference following the Wellington earthquake.

Wellington rail services have resumed following inspections for earthquake-related damage.

A prominent Kapiti couple died in a suicide pact after the husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer, a coroner has found.

Wellington's food festival is a treat for the palate. Don Kavanagh reports.

Danielle Wright finds Wellington alive with art events, food and popular culture this winter.

Dr John Key has blurted out loud what we've long suspected, Wellington is a terminal case, writes Brian Rudman. Incurable. "We don't know how to turn it around."

A young killer who stabbed a Lower Hutt father of two has been sentenced to life imprisonment, and must serve a minimum of 10 years.