Some Tawa residents felt the small earthquake that occurred 10 km north-west of Porirua this morning. The magnitude 3.3 quake occurred at a depth of 40 km at 1:01 a.m. Today’s earthquake is the latest in a series of small events that have been occuring near Porirua since December.
The first event in the series was a magnitude 4.6 quake at 30 km depth, 10 km north-east of Porirua on December 13th at 9:09 p.m. This event was felt from Wanganui to Wellington, and in Wairarapa and Marlborough. Geonet reported that items were thrown from shelves around the Wellington region.
On January 6th, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake at 30 km depth centred 10 km west of Porirua was felt from Levin to Wellington and in Marlborough at 5:24 a.m. Geonet reported that, once again, items were reported to have tumbled from shelves in the Wellington region.
On February 1st, a magnitude 3.7 earthquake at 40 km depth centred 10 km west of Porirua was felt at Linden (near Tawa) and Titahi Bay at 10:01 a.m. Geonet did not report any damage from this event.
Earthquakes have also occurred nearby at Upper Hutt, Waikanae, further west near Farewell Spit, as well as near Seddon and the Marlborough Sounds during January and February.