Cluster of quakes rattle Bay

Porangahau was rocked with a series of shakes this morning.

The Bay was rattled by a cluster of weak earthquakes early this morning.

GeoNet reported the total of 11 tremors were all near Porangahau at a depth of 20 kilometres or less.

The most powerful was a moderate strength magnitude 3.8 earthquake which struck at about 6.15am.

A total of 10 people reported feeling the moderate quake.

A 3.1 magnitude quake struck at 6.38am, a 2.5 magnitude quake at 7.32am and a 3 magnitude quake at 8.02am

Duke of Edinburgh Hotel manager in Porangahau said there was no damage at all although he did feel a slight shake in the early hours of Sunday.

Karen Hill of Porangahau said she was dreaming about an earthquake when she woke up and realised one was happening.

"It was quite scary but after a few seconds it was clearly just a baby so I went back to sleep."

A number of locals took to social media to discuss the series of shakes and the possibility of a mega quake hitting the region.

GeoNet locates around 20,000 earthquakes in and around New Zealand each year, most of these are small but around 250 are big enough to be felt.

GeoNet report that the likelihood of a large quake has not increased due to the quake cluster.

"Although large earthquakes are sometimes preceded by smaller associated earthquakes, swarms of seismic activity do not necessarily indicate that a large earthquake is to follow."