Magnitude 5.1 quake hits West Coast

A "strong" quake shook the South Island late on Saturday night, with people as far away as Auckland reporting they felt it.

The magnitude 5.1 quake struck at 11.37pm, in the ocean 5km northwest of Greymouth, on the West Coast, at a depth of five kilometres.

GeoNet described the shaking as "strong". There were more than 1400 felt reports, with six calling it "extreme".

Most reports came from the South Island, as far south as Dunedin, while a number of people in North Island locations such as Hawke's Bay, Wellington, south Waikato and even Auckland said they felt it.

rnz.co.nz