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Earthquake shakes North Island

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 23 Jan 2019, 8:36PM
The earthquake was felt by thousands. (Photo / File)
The earthquake was felt by thousands. (Photo / File)

Earthquake shakes North Island

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Wed, 23 Jan 2019, 8:36PM

An earthquake in Whanganui has been felt by thousands of people.

Geonet reported a 4.7 magnitude earthquake 5km northwest of Whanganui at 8.09pm. It was 91km deep and more than 5200 people had reported feeling it within the first 10 minutes.

Most of the reports were along the west coast of the North Island from Taranaki down to Wellington with a number of people in Nelson also saying they felt the shake.

According to Geonet, a minute earlier, at 8.08pm, a magnitude 6 earthquake was recorded 10km south-west of Ruatoria. It was 32km deep and by 8.20 more than 5500 people had reported feeling it.

The felt reports for the Ruatoria shake were felt in largely the same places, according to GeoNet's felt reports.

A Twitter user in Wellington questioned whether it was an earthquake or wind saying her apartment "got the major shakes just now".

Geonet orginially also reported a magnitude 6 earthquake at 8.08pm, 10km south-west of Ruatoria. However, that report has since been removed from their website.

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