A magnitude 6.1 earthquake has struck New Zealand, according to an official monitoring service, just one day after a devastating cyclone forced a state of emergency across much of the country.
The quake occurred under the Cook Strait dividing New Zealand’s North and South Islands at 7:38pm local time, and is reported to have been felt strongly for several seconds in the capital of Wellington.
The tremor struck at a depth of 48km, with its epicentre some 50km from the town of Paraparaumu, according to the seismic monitoring service Geonet.
It “caused a long and strong shake felt widely across the North Island and Marlborough region”, according to Geonet, which said it received more than 60,000 felt reports.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injury and no tsunami warning.
It was followed by a magnitude 4.0 quake which hit 20 minutes later some 45 km south-west of Taumarunui – and came just over 10 hours after a magnitude 2.0 tremor whose epicentre was 5km from the same town, the monitoring service said.
New Zealand lies on the seismically active “Ring of Fire”, a 40,000-km arc of volcanoes and ocean trenches girdling much of the Pacific Ocean.
The earthquake comes after Cyclone Gabrielle caused significant damage across New Zealand’s North Island this week, leaving at least four people dead and more than 10,000 people displaced in the country’s most destructive weather event in decades.
While the cyclone is now moving away from New Zealand, an unrelated weather system is forecast to bring more heavy rain in the days ahead, which will increase risks of further landslides and flooding.
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