5.7-magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand
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E-mail Xinhua, July 19, 2013
An 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck central New Zealand on Friday with no damage reported.
The quake, occurred at 9:06 a.m. local time (21:06 GMT Thursday) with an initial Richter scale magnitude 5.7, was centred 30 km east of Seddon, near South Island town of Blenheim, at a depth of 8 km, the New Zealand government geological agency GNS Science reported.
Emergency services have yet to receive any reports of damage after a shallow quake.
The quake was felt in Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Manawatu and Taranaki.
Xinhua reporters in Wellington Office felt the strong jolt which lasted at least 20 seconds.
Many Wellingtonians took to Twitter saying they got under their desks, or got under a doorframe.
Some in the upper floors of high-rise office buildings reported feeling their buildings sway.
A number of moderate aftershocks have been recorded, with the biggest being magnitude 3.7. GNS Science said it occurred below Cook Strait, between Blenheim and Wellington. Seismologist Anna Kaiser said it's not clear yet which fault produced the tremor. Kaiser added there have been several aftershocks since the initial earthquake, most of them too weak to have been felt.
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