Earthquakes shake Whakatāne residents in early morning

Whakatāne residents may have had a shaky start to the morning after a swarm of earthquakes were recorded off the coast.

Geonet recorded nine earthquakes near Moutohora Island, off the coast of Whakatāne since June 4.

Two this morning were recorded 45km north of the Eastern Bay of Plenty town - one at 3.46am magnitude 4.2 and the other at 4.52am magnitude 4.0.

On Monday Geonet recorded a total of six earthquakes no more than 10km off the coast of Whakatāne.

All were about magnitude 2.0.

The first one was at 6.22pm and the sixth was at 6.34pm.

GNS Science duty volcanologist Craig Miller said he had located over 95 earthquakes.

"Our analysis of this new swarm confirms its similarity to the May sequence, which was
interpreted as fault movement.

"Based on the May swarm we expect this morning's activity to continue for a few days."

The National Geohazards Monitoring Centre was keeping a close eye on the earthquakes and for any signs of volcanic unrest said Miller.

"There are no changes in volcano monitoring parameters or the level of volcanic activity
at Whakaari (White) Island.

"Our observations are consistent with minor volcanic unrest and the volcanic alert level remains at 1 while the aviation colour code stays at green."