Earthquake: 4.9 magnitude quake reported in central North Island

Sunday, 27 September 2020

A 4.9 magnitude earthquake has been reported in the central North Island.

Geonet reported the quake occurred at 4.47pm on Sunday, at a depth of 14km, 40km south-west of Taumarunui, King Country.

There were reports of the quake being felt as far away as Nelson and Auckland.

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New Plymouth's tallest office block, the eight-storey Worley Parsons building, shook for about 45 seconds.

While there was not initially any reports of damage, several rocks appears to have been dislodged by the quake onto the road on the Tarata Saddle, near Inglewood.

Tarata local Michael Riley told Stuff locals been busy moving cones around the saddle to prevent any road accidents, until the rocks could be cleared.

At Mt Ruapehu, people were briefly brought into Chateau Tongariro Hotel as the earthquake triggered a lahar warning which turned out to be a false alarm.