Earthquakes rattle New Zealand's North Island

It was followed three minutes later by a 5.3 magnitude quake.

Both quakes were shallow - at 21 and 15 kilometres underground respectively - and followed by 10 aftershocks in the following 30 minutes, ranging from 2.1 to 4.3 magnitude.

More than 22,000 people reported feeling the first quake with GNS Science, most in the central North Island and Hawke's Bay, but also in the capital Wellington.