A moderate earthquake struck off-shore north of Wellington just before 9 o’clock this morning.
Saturday 27th December 2008
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 60 km north of Porirua at a depth of 50 km this morning. The 8:49 a.m. quake was located 80 km north of Wellington under the Tasman Sea, 40 km west of Levin.
Shaking from the event was felt widely in the lower North Island and upper South Island, with reports filed from Waitara and Taumarunui to Banks Peninsula. Of the 700 reports filed with GeoNet by 10:30 a.m., eleven reported strong shaking at locations in Wellington, on the Kapiti Coast, in the Horowhenua district and at Wanganui.
A deeper magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck to the south of the Kermadec Islands three hours before the Tasman Sea event. The 5:30 a.m. quake was located 125 km south of L’Esperance Rock (755 km north-east of Auckland) at a depth of 190 km.
[Compiled from data provided by the GeoNet project and its sponsors EQC, GNS Science and FRST; and the US Geological Survey and its contributing agencies.]