Central North Island jolted awake
Items were damaged at the Taumarunui Reuse Shop by the quake.Photo Photo: Supplied - Taumarunui Reuse Shop
A strong earthquake jolted the central North Island early on Saturday.
GeoNet said the 'severe' magnitude 5.9 quake happened around five kilometres southwest of Taumarunui at 4.51am.
The earthquake was nine kilometres deep and the intensity was severe.
The quake was reportedly felt across much of the North Island, including Auckland, and as far as the top of the South.
Fire and Emergency (FENZ) said there were no quake-related callouts at all.
A seismologist told RNZ the earthquake was the first ever recorded in that area.
While Earth Sciences New Zealand duty seismologist Sam Taylor-Offord said it was a normal faulting earthquake, so not unexpected, and could have occurred on one of the few mapped faults in the area. It was the first to strike since records began in the early 1800s.
Taylor-Offord said larger earthquakes were not common in the wider area.
"So they do happen in the region. They're just much less frequent than other parts of the country."
Taylor-Offord said there had been more than 50 aftershocks, up to 3.7 in magnitude, within three hours.
"It could go on for a week, more or less, regularly... and then we expect things would taper off. But we could still be seeing earthquakes here in years to come that are associated with this one, just much, much smaller."
While nearly 23,000 'felt reports' had been filed to GeoNet, Taylor-Offord said it only recorded the first five minutes.
Mayor of the Ruapehu District Weston Kirton confirmed there had been some minor damage in Taumarunui, withone or two commercial buildings affected, "glass broken and the like".
There had also been minor slips on the roading network, including one blockage where someone could not get out.
Kirton, who lived just three kilometres south of the epicentre, described the earthquake as traumatic.
"My bedroom has got lights that were shaking, and I thought things were going to start falling over. We did have photos, and what have you, fall over, but it was one of those moments where you don't know whether it's going to get worse, but as it turned out, it was five or 10 seconds of, just, trauma, and then of course it quietened down.
"It certainly was traumatic. I've lived here all my life and it certainly was the largest I've experienced in my lifetime."
Manawatū-Whanganui Emergency Management Group urged motorists to take care while driving after minor slips were reported in the area.
No injuries or other damage had been reported.
An opportunity shop in Taumarunui was picking up damaged stock on Saturday morning.
Emily Jasmine from Taumarunui Resource Recovery Centre on Golf Rd, part of a Ruapehu Transfer Station, came in to find broken glass scattered across the floor.
Jasmine was around a quarter of the way through the clean-up at 11.15am, having found about 10 smashed vases so far.
"We got off very lightly," she said. "It looks worse than it is.
"In fact, you know what, the ugly ornaments didn't even crack.”