The rumbling began in Central Hawke's Bay early on Saturday morning before many were awoken by a sharp jolt.
It was one of five shallow earthquakes, shortly after a quake swarm in Northern Hawke's Bay last week.
But the increased activity around Hawke's Bay is not linked, and it's not necessarily a precursor for anything worse to come, scientists say.
The first quake, centred near Waipukurau, was recorded at 12.36am and, although it was a magnitude of only 3.8, it was just 16 kilometres deep.
The second 4.1 jolt which had many residents filling in "felt reports" on GeoNet. It was only 10km deep.