A "good shake" that woke Northlanders up last night came two days after another earthquake shook buildings on New Year's Day.

GeoNet reported a 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck 12km deep at 1.38am 55km east of Whangārei.

One Tree Point resident Russell Foster had been fast asleep after staying up to watch the tennis on television when he woke to his house shaking.

"The whole house was shaking backwards and forwards. We had stuff falling off shelves even," he said.

"It was a good shake, that's for sure."

Foster, 80, said he and his wife both woke up and got out of bed immediately and went outside to listen for a tsunami siren.

"We often don't hear them where I am, so I was on my phone trying to find out what was going on."

He said he sent text messages to his family all around New Zealand, but didn't hear anything back so went back to bed.

Eighty-two people reported to GeoNet they felt the earthquake last night, with the majority of reports being of weak or light shaking.

A number of people on the Tutukaka Coast noticed the earth move on New Year's day.

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded 60km east of Whangārei at a depth of just 5km on Tuesday.

Kelly Stone, home from the shaky capital city of Wellington to visit her parents on the Tutukaka coast, said the quake had her on her feet and considering leaving the house.

Having lived in Wellington for nearly 10 years she was very familiar with quakes.

"This one would have made everyone in the office in Wellington get to their feet and consider their next move," Stone said.

"The whole house was shaking and the television was wobbling. It was comparable to those we get in Wellington and it was strong enough to have me thinking about getting outside."

Northland, with no known active seismic faults, has the lowest earthquake risk in the country.