For many Hawke's Bay people already weary, and left wary, after several days of saturating rain, an earthquake felt widely across the region early yesterday was pretty much a case of "what next?"
The earthquake was felt at 6.47am and was centred about 25km southwest of Rotorua, at a depth of 167km.
It had a magnitude of 5.1, with GNS Science seismologist John Ristau saying the central location was ripe for it to be felt across eastern and southern regions of the North Island.
He said the North Island was on the Australian tectonic plate, with the Pacific plate pushing in deeply from the east.
The line where they met meant earthquakes could travel "very efficiently" along it. "In general, these earthquakes are not felt so much at the epicentre," he said.
Mr Ristau said the seismic waves of deep-seated earthquakes tended to spread out and make their way to the surface further away, where they were more clearly felt. There had been no reports of damage, although he said the brief swaying shake may have moved a picture frame or two.
Five hours earlier, a 2.7 magnitude earthquake, at just 16km deep, was recorded 10km east of Pongoroa in the Tararua District.
On Tuesday at 11.29pm, a 2.3 magnitude quake at 15km deep was recorded about 10km east of Waipukurau, and on Wednesday just before 9am, a 2.8 magnitude shake was recorded 25km southwest of Porangahau.
The greatly differing depths meant they would not have been connected to yesterday morning's earthquake.
Big Barrel in Tamatea suffered minor damage, with a box falling off a shelf and a few bottles smashed. Other bottle stores, including The Mill in Havelock North, reported no damage at all.
Some residents reported on Facebook that they felt the quake.
Steph Brenchley: "Felt it good down here in Feilding."
Trish Hunter: "I live in Taradale and was sitting up in bed when it started to shake ... only minor."
Tarnz Lynuk Martin : "Me and the kids, we're freaking out."
Josephine Walker: "I was waiting for the next big one."
Kasey Lewis Chong Taylor: "Felt in Whakatu ... cats were freaking out, lol."